Surname that derives from the place name Ávila, a Spanish city in the region of Castile and León, the highest provincial capital in Spain, situated at 1,131 metres above sea level in a rocky area. The history of Ávila begins in legend: according to mythology, Abyla was the wife of Hercules, by whom she had a son named Alcideo, who is said to have conquered the Iberian Peninsula and founded a city, giving it the name of his mother, Abyla. The surname probably refers to a founding ancestor coming from that city.

Note: Capostipite (Italian, from capo "head" + stipite from the Latin stipes "trunk") designates the founding ancestor of a lineage, the first known bearer of the surname from whom all the family branches descend. In onomastics it applies specifically to the original individual to whom the nickname, name or trade was attributed that was later fixed hereditarily as a surname.