E. Rossoni and V. Blunda differ on the origin of the surname.

Rossoni suggests that it could derive from the rare Latin praenomen Amellus (Amella), the name of a flower mentioned by Virgil in the fourth book of the Georgics.

Blunda, on the other hand, for the Sicilian variant derives it from the dialectal word amèdda ("winter medlar"), belonging to the group of phytonymic surnames. As a surname it may have originated in a place name applied to someone who lived near a notable medlar tree or cultivated these trees, frequent in Sicilian family orchards. He notes that the winter medlar, distinct from the Japanese one introduced later, was prized for its astringent fruit that ripened after the first frosts.