The authors disagree on the origin of this surname. A. Bongioanni considers it a given name of Germanic origin, mostly as an affectionate abbreviated form of compound names whose second element is bert. He notes that the feminine form can also be an independent name, and stresses that in Italy the most venerated figure is the Blessed Berta de' Bardi, abbess of Vallombrosa, who died in 1163. Bongioanni also documents variants with the change of bert to vert or verd in compound names, with testimonies in documents of the Cremona area such as Anzevertus (902), Redevertus (909) and Aldevertus (1014), as well as forms in the Lodi area and references to the Piedmontese surname Reverdino.

V. Blunda, on the other hand, proposes a Greek origin through the personal name Bèrta, preserved in the Byzantine transmission of southern Italy, and considers that the Sicilian form of the surname fixes the Italianised spelling of that original name, which became a surname along the family line within the onomastics of the island.