E. Rossoni derives this surname from the Greek name Areskon, in turn from the ancient Greek verb aresko ("to be pleasing, to please"). Rossoni considers less likely a derivation from a dialectal alteration of the Latin name Aretius. Its presence is documented in the Syracuse area, specifically in the localities of Melilli and Sortino.

V. Blunda agrees on the Greek root, although he specifies it as the adjective árescos, "kind". According to Blunda, the Sicilian surname preserves that Greek form and would have originally functioned as a nickname applied to the ancestor for his pleasant character or sociable disposition, later becoming a surname as that trait became fixed as a family mark transmitted along the male line.