Surnames in Italy, E. Rossoni and V. Blunda agree that the surname derives from a personal name of biblical and religious tradition with a meaning linked to divine grace or mercy.

The surname Anania is of southern origin, with historical presence above all in Calabria and, to a lesser extent, in Sicily. Its main diffusion is recorded in the areas of Catanzaro and Crotone (Curinga, Lamezia Terme, Petronà, Maida, Cirò Marina, Casabona, Savelli, Isca sullo Ionio, Stalettì), as well as in areas of Basilicata (Lauria and Nemoli) and in the Palermo and Messina areas in Sicily (Milazzo, San Filippo del Mela, Palermo, Cinisi). It is explained that the surname comes from the medieval name Anania, which is in turn the Italianised form of the Hebrew name Hananiah, composed of ḥannāh ("favour, grace") and Yah ("God"), meaning "grace of God" or "favoured by God". This name has a long biblical and Christian tradition: it appears as Ananias in the New Testament, which favoured its use in the Middle Ages. Over time, the name was adopted as a masculine anthroponym in southern Italy and, later, fixed as a family surname, that is, as a patronymic indicating "descendant of Anania". It is added that in some areas of southern Italy, especially in the province of Messina, the surname may also reflect Greek or arbëreshë (Greek-Albanian) linguistic influences, due to the historical presence of Greek-speaking communities in that region; in these cases, the surname may be related to the Greek name Ananías (Ἀνανίας), of the same religious meaning. In short, it is a surname derived from a personal name of Hebrew-Christian tradition, spread mainly in Calabria and Sicily, associated with divine grace and protection, and historically consolidated within the patronymic system of southern Italy.

E. Rossoni agrees with Surnames in Italy in noting that it derives from the medieval name Anania, the Italianisation of the Hebrew name Hananiah, composed of hannah ("favour, grace") and Yah ("God"), meaning "grace of God". He adds that in the Sicilian-Calabrian area it could also have a Greek or Greek-Albanian origin.

V. Blunda provides a regional perspective, noting that it is a Sicilian surname of Greek origin, belonging to the biblical anthroponymic stock transmitted by Byzantine culture. It derives from the etymon Ananìas, meaning "Ananias" (in Hebrew "Yahweh is merciful"), a name borne by several figures of the Old and New Testaments, among them the disciple of Damascus who restored the sight of Saint Paul according to the Acts of the Apostles. He explains that the Greek form of the name spread through the Eastern liturgy and was preserved in Sicilian onomastics as a legacy of the Byzantine period.