E. Rossoni proposes two possible origins: it could derive from the Frankish name Arbitio, or from the Greek term designating the Arabs, which would indicate an Arab origin of the founding ancestor. However, the documentation of the surname in Policastro, in the Crotone area, from the beginning of the 14th century —with Nicolás de Arabito as lord of the place— makes him lean towards a Norman origin.

V. Blunda derives it from the Greek arabìtes, "Arab", interpreting it as a gentilic that was originally applied to the ancestor coming from the Arab world or linked to contact with that culture. He also notes that the variant Arrabito reflects the consonantal doubling characteristic of the dialectal forms of southern Italy. Both authors place the surname mainly in Sicily.