The authors agree that this surname has roots in a name of Germanic origin, although they differ in the details of its etymology. F. Miranda notes that it could derive from the medieval name Bozo or Buzzo, linked to the Germanic name Bozo, from a vernacular modification of the Latin cognomen Butius, or from the medieval Boetius. Miranda also points to a possible appellative interpretation: the Italian term bozzo, with the sense of "stone that protrudes from a wall" or "protuberance, bulge", which would have given rise to a nickname.

V. Blunda goes deeper into the Germanic etymology and proposes that the surname derives from the Lombard anthroponym Boz, a hypocoristic form whose root bod —"messenger"— would have undergone a consonantal phonetic change. Blunda also warns that the doubling -zz- is characteristic of Italian anthroponymy, where it marks affective or intensive forms. He expressly rejects the association with the Italian common noun bozzo ("bump, swelling"), considering it a folk etymology without foundation, since both words have different origins and their formal coincidence is casual.

As for its geographical distribution, Miranda indicates that the surname has a notable presence in Liguria, Veneto and Piedmont, with ramifications in Calabria —in the Cosenza area—, Lombardy, Lazio, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Sicily and Apulia.