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

Rossoni suggests that it is probably a matronymic derived from the feminine form of the Frankish name Arutius, documented in a deed of donation to the Abbey of Cluny of the year 871.

Blunda, on the other hand, for the Sicilian variant derives it from the dialectal word rùta ("rue, an aromatic herb"), belonging to the group of phytonymic surnames. As a surname it may have originated in a place name applied to someone who lived near areas populated with rue, or in the trade of the herbalist.

Blunda notes that the plant was widely used in traditional Sicilian medicine and in popular rituals of protection against the evil eye, a custom still documented in rural areas of the island.