The surname presents multiple independent stocks of origin (ceppi), arisen in different regions without direct relation to each other. It is documented mainly in Piedmont and in bordering areas of Lombardy, with variants such as Baral, Barral and Varale.

Several etymological hypotheses are considered. One links it to the place name Monte Barale, located in the Cottian Alps of Piedmont, which would explain its rooting in the provinces of Cuneo and Turin. Another relates it to the Occitan term barrahl ("palisade" or "shelter"), an etymology consistent with the historical presence of Occitan populations in western Piedmont. A third hypothesis proposes a French origin from the place name Baralle, in the Calais area, from which the forms Barral and then Barale would have derived by phonetic adaptation.

R. Brondolo notes a fourth hypothesis of Germanic-Provençal origin: the old Germanic name Eberhard ("strong as a boar") would have evolved along the Provençal route towards the form Bar(r)al, from which Barale would derive. Brondolo also specifies that the variant Varale predominates in Piedmont and Lombardy.