The authors agree that the surname was formed from a personal name of Germanic origin linked to the sphere of the army and command.

E. Rossoni derives it from the name of Lombard origin Aroald, documented in a marriage contract of the year 722. The Latinised form Araldus appears in the second half of the 12th century in the northern area of Milan with a certain Araldus de Pontegana. He notes that the name comes from the old Frankish haraldus, meaning "servant of the army" or "herald".

V. Blunda, for the Sicilian variant, derives it from the Germanic compound Harja Walda ("the one who commands the army" or "commander of the host"), formed from harja ("army, armed host") and walda ("power, government"). He notes that the term gave rise to the Italian araldo and the Spanish heraldo, designating the official messenger charged with transmitting the lord's declarations on the battlefield and in medieval courts.