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

Rossoni derives it, directly or through augmentative forms, from the trade of carpenter or maker of arks (boxes, chests). He does not rule out that in some cases it derived from makers of bows for hunting or war.

Blunda, on the other hand, for the Sicilian variant derives it from the dialectal word arsèlla ("clam, a kind of bivalve mollusc"), belonging to the group of surnames linked to the sea. As a surname it may have originated in the trade of the shellfish gatherer or seller in the coastal localities of the island, or as a descriptive nickname. He notes that the motivation is parallel to that of other Sicilian surnames based on molluscs, such as Patella ("limpet") or Còcciolo.