The surname Barbero and its numerous variants —such as Barbieri, Barberi, Barbera, Barberis or Labarbera— fall within the surnames derived from trades, in this case linked to the root barb- ("beard"). In medieval Europe, the barber did not only take care of aesthetic grooming, but also performed medical functions: he practised bloodletting, carried out tooth extractions, treated wounds and performed minor interventions. This hybrid role between trade and health practice explains the wide diffusion of these surnames, which in many cases became consolidated as craft lineages. In this sense, F. De Laurentiis stresses that it is one of the most widespread surnames in north-central Italy, especially in Tuscany, the Ferrara area and the Veneto, derived from the term barbiere, which in the past also designated the person who practised phlebotomy and minor surgery. He also notes that the feminine barbiera could refer both to the barber's wife and, in a figurative sense, to a woman of conduct considered not very honest.

For its part, the lexicographical tradition gathered in sources from Alessandria refers to the entry Barberis to understand the etymology of the group, indicating that these plural or derived forms have achieved greater diffusion than variants such as Barbiero or Barbierato. This observation reinforces the idea of a surname that, starting from a common base linked to the trade, diversified regionally through suffixes and phonetic adaptations. Taken together, both the linguistic and the historical evidence agree in pointing out that these surnames reflect a fundamental activity in medieval daily life, whose social importance was fixed in the transmission of the family name over time.