The authors agree that the surname is of toponymic origin, linked to the city of Avellino, in the Campania region. F. Miranda offers a detailed etymological analysis: the place name goes back to the Latin Abellinum, which in turn derives from the Oscan term abella. This word is related to the Indo-European abel ("apple") or to the Latin aper ("boar"), and is also associated with hazelnuts (abellanae, Late Latin avellanae), abundant in the area. Miranda also notes as possible etymons the archaic term avello ("small basin", also "tomb") and the river Avello, in the Abruzzo region.

Miranda indicates that the surname is concentrated mainly in Sicily, with presence in the areas of Catania, Messina and Ragusa, and especially in the localities of Maletto and Bronte, in the province of Catania. He also records presence in the Enna area —in Centuripe, Catenanuova and Agira— and, to a lesser extent, in Lombardy, Liguria and Campania.