The authors agree that Buffa is a surname with a strong presence in southern Italy, formed from a nickname, although they propose different origins.

E. Rossoni derives it from the suppression of the initial syllable of the medieval name Rebufus or Robufus, or, according to another proposal, from the German Büffel ("buffalo"), the Büffel being Bavarian families established in Italy. He recalls that in the south, especially in Sicily and in the Naples area, the term buffa means "toad" in dialect. He notes that Buffa has clusters in the Trapani and Palermo areas, in the south of the island of Sardinia, in the Catanzaro and Rome areas, in Trentino and in Piedmont. The variant Buffi has clusters in Trentino, in the Mantua area, in the Tuscany region and in the Umbria region. Buffini is typical of the Prato area. Buffo has clusters in the Turin, Verona and Treviso areas, in the Genoa area and in the Puglia region.

V. Blunda presents it as a Sicilian surname of dialectal origin, formed from a nickname based on an animal name. It derives from the dialectal word bbùffa, meaning "common toad". As a surname it could have originated in a pejorative nickname applied to a person considered of unattractive appearance, a habitual motivation in Sicilian surnames based on animals considered ugly or repulsive. He also recalls that the toad appears frequently in the magical-medicinal folklore of the island, linked both to popular remedies and to beliefs about the evil eye.