The authors agree that this surname has documented presence throughout continental Italy, with its greatest concentration in the Milan area and in the provinces of Lombardy in general, and significant presence also in Piedmont, Liguria, the Marche and Calabria. The variant Braschi has clusters mainly in Romagna and Tuscany, with presence also in the Genoa, Bologna, Rome and Foggia areas, while Brasco is practically unique.

As for the etymology, E. Rossoni proposes as the most probable hypothesis the derivation from the Gothic word brakia ("struggle, combat"), introduced into Italy during the Lombard and Frankish domination, and applied as a nickname to an ancestor of a warlike or combative character. As an alternative hypothesis, he notes the Lombard, Piedmontese and Ligurian dialectal term brasca, with converging meanings: ember or live coal of the fire, branch or plant shoot, and a type of mushroom, which would have allowed its use as a nickname associated with agricultural, forestry or domestic activities.

R. Sgaramella provides early attestations of the surname: Geronimo Brasca appears as a baptismal godfather in Atena Lucana in 1577; Orazio Braschi is recorded in 1871 and Matteo Braschi in 1908. He also documents the variants Brascia in the Bari area and Brasca in Calabria.

The form Braica is considered a minority graphic variant, attested sporadically and probably the result of transcription errors.