E. Rossoni: they derive from the Germanic term baro ("free man"). A derivation from an Occitan nickname with the sense of "pot-bellied" is also possible. The geographical distribution suggests at least two distinct clusters of origin, one in Liguria and another in Romagna.

F. De Laurentiis: a popular surname derived from a nickname compounded from a noun (or place name), Bari, and from the plural of Gozzo, which has various meanings: "fishing or transport boat of small dimensions, with oars and a small sail", "crop (of a bird)", "the stomach of a person" (empirsi il gozzo, "to eat too much and greedily"), "excessive enlargement of the thyroid". It could also be an altered form of the Ferrarese dialectal term imbariagozzi, "drunkards".