According to E. De Felice, Ardemagni is a patronymic surname derived from the Germanic personal name Ardemanno, a name of Frankish tradition composed of the elements hard (“strong,” “brave,” “resolute”) and mann (“man”). The original meaning of the name is therefore “strong man” or “brave man.”

De Felice notes that the personal name was already well established in Italy during the Early Middle Ages. A document from Farfa dated 807 records an Ardemannus, envoy of Emperor Charlemagne, while the forms Ardamannus and Ardemannus appear frequently in Florentine records from the 11th century onward. He further observes that the surname is particularly characteristic of Lombardy, especially the Milan area.

E. Rossoni agrees with this interpretation and points out that the original Germanic form Hardmann may initially have been associated with families of patrician or noble standing, reflecting the prestige traditionally attached to Germanic personal names formed from elements denoting strength and valor.

Overall, Ardemagni is a surname derived from the medieval Germanic name Ardemanno and originally identified the descendants of an ancestor whose name conveyed the idea of a “strong” or “brave man.”