The authors agree that the surname derives from the medieval name of Germanic origin Alibrandus, documented in a deed of 1203 according to E. Rossoni. The form Alibrandus is in turn a variation of Aldebrandus or Hildebrandus.

F. Miranda breaks the name down into its Germanic roots: adal ("noble"), ali ("foreign") or ald ("old"), plus brand ("sword"), with the sense of "foreign soldier" or "expert in the use of the sword". He also notes that the form Alibrando may be a dialectal evolution of Aldebrandus or Ildebrandus.

V. Blunda, on the other hand, proposes an alternative reading of the compound: Alia Branda, meaning "another sword" or "second blade", formed from alia ("other, different") and branda ("sword, flaming blade"), a root linked to the Germanic verb brinnan ("to burn"). Blunda also notes that the variant Aliprandi, with the b/p oscillation typical of northern Italian phonetics, belongs to the northern sphere.

As for its geographical distribution, Rossoni documents the surname in Messina and Rome, and the form Alibrando in Taurisano —in the province of Lecce—, Santa Lucia del Mela and Milazzo, in the Messina area. Miranda broadens this picture and indicates presence in Sicilian provinces such as Catania, Palermo, Syracuse, Enna and Agrigento, as well as Lazio, Lombardy, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna, Liguria, Tuscany, Veneto and Umbria.