P. Regati places the origin of the surname in the Ligurian localities of Recco and Uscio, and considers it derived from the more widespread forms Bixio and Bisio. According to Regati, the origin could lie in the greyish colour of the complexion or in the tone of the beard and hair of the ancestor who received the nickname.

V. Blunda, on the other hand, proposes for the Sicilian variants a different etymology: the Greek bỳssos, a term that designated fine linen, a precious fabric of antiquity. Blunda notes that the Greek b is pronounced as v in these Sicilian forms, and that the nickname would have been applied to the ancestor for his textile trade or for the fineness of his bearing, later becoming a surname along the family line.

The two proposals are independent of each other and correspond to different regions: Liguria in the case of Regati, and Sicily in that of Blunda, which suggests that the surname presents independent origins in different regions of Italy.