The authors agree that the surname derives from the medieval personal name Abiosus, attested in Sicilian and southern Italian documents in forms such as Abbiusus and Abyusus. This etymology was noted by the scholar Girolamo Caracausi and refers to Medieval Latin.

F. Miranda documents the presence of the surname in around 50 comuni distributed across various regions: Sicily, Puglia, Lombardy, Lazio, Tuscany, Piedmont, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Liguria and Emilia-Romagna. In Sicily, the areas of greatest concentration correspond to the province of Catania —with localities such as Catania, Giarre, Paternò and Randazzo—, the province of Palermo —with Palermo, Monreale, Trappeto and Lascari—, and the provinces of Messina and Enna, where clusters are documented in Valguarnera Caropepe and Centuripe.

G. P. Holmes confirms the Medieval Latin root of the surname, identifying Abiosus as a proper name of Medieval Latin origin, in line with what Miranda notes.