The authors agree that the surname derives from the Greek Antonakis, a hypocoristic form of the name Antonio, with the Greek suffix -akis indicating filiation ("son of Antonio") or affection, equivalent to the Spanish "Antoñito". Its presence in Italy reflects the Greek-Byzantine influence in the south.

G. Rohlfs notes that the surname is documented in Brindisi and more frequently in the province of Lecce —in localities such as Casarano, Cutrofiano, Gallipoli and Galatina—, and links it directly to the Byzantine presence in the Grecìa Salentina, that is, the southernmost area of the Puglia region. Rohlfs also stresses that the form Antonakis survives as a surname in Greece.

F. Miranda adds that the surname settled in the Terra d'Otranto through Greek-Byzantine colonists, and that today it is also widespread in Lazio, Lombardy, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Campania.

V. Blunda records the graphic variant Antonàces for the Greek form of origin, and notes that the Sicilian surname preserves this Hellenic form of the diminutive transmitted along the family line.