The authors agree that this surname derives from a medieval ecclesiastical title: the archdeacon, head of the deacons of a church or cathedral chapter, and at times vicar of the bishop. Its origin is Greek, from archi diakonos, composed of the prefix archi- ("principal", "chief") and diakonos ("deacon").

E. De Felice notes that the surname is characteristic of southern Italy, where it arose in the Middle Ages from a nickname derived from that title of ecclesiastical hierarchy. He indicates that in the Reggio Calabria area the variant Arcidiaco predominates.

V. Blunda specifies that, in the Sicilian sphere, the term originally functioned as a nickname applied to an ancestor linked to the religious world, and that over time it became a surname through family transmission. He adds that the title corresponded to the Byzantine rite, which refers to the Greek-Eastern influence historically present in southern Italy and Sicily.

P. Durante agrees on the Greek origin and on its character as an ecclesiastical title, without adding further details.