The authors agree that the surname is a trade nickname derived from the dialectal term barbè, which designates the barber, and refers to the trade carried out by the ancestor.

R. Brondolo adds a morphological distinction of interest: the ending in -o is characteristic of Piedmont, while the ending in -i —which gives rise to the form Barberis— predominates in Lombardy. The research of Amis di Alessandria / Lissondria (see references) refers, for greater etymological detail, to the entry corresponding to the surname Barberis, and notes that the Alessandria area, with localities such as Acqui, Denice and Morsasco, constitutes the area of greatest concentration of the surname.