Surname typical of the Liguria region, especially widespread in the Genoa area. Its origin is linked to a dialectal expression composed of the Ligurian verb baciga / basigâ and the term lupo ("wolf"), although its interpretation presents different readings according to the authors.

For E. Rossoni, the surname would have arisen as a nickname applied to someone who drove away wolves —possibly by striking them with a stick— or to a worker linked to wolf skins.

Other authors relate the Genoese term basigâ to meanings such as "to swing", "to handle" or "to transport", interpreting the whole as a reference to a hunter or trader of wolf skins, who carried them hung (hence the "swinging"). A possible ironic connotation has also been suggested, linked to courage (or its absence).

P. Regati, for his part, proposes a derivation from the verb bacigare ("to pester, to bother"), giving rise to a nickname applied to insistent or annoying people —"who bothered even the wolf"—, although without ruling out the interpretations linked to work with these animals.

E. Caffarelli provides a complementary interpretation: he notes that forms such as Bacigalupo (together with variants such as Pongiluppi or Frustalupi) do not necessarily allude to concrete human actions, but may derive from popular names of plants or natural elements. In this sense, "to whip" or "to prick the wolf" (frustare or pungere il lupo) could refer metaphorically to thorny shrubs or brambles in which animals became trapped, or even to figurative denominations that later came to be used as nicknames for people considered annoying or bothersome.

The surname is documented in the Ventimiglia area as early as the 18th century (with the prelate Antonio Maria Bacigaluppi) and presents a strong Ligurian root.