E. Rossoni notes that they derive from nicknames originating in the medieval term buratto (a sieve made with a very fine and loose fabric called buro), relating to the work of millers, or from being producers of that fabric; in some cases they could also derive from jocular nicknames. Buratti is very well represented throughout central-northern Italy. Burattini is specific to the central strip. Burattino, very rare, is specific to Orvieto in the Terni area.

F. De Laurentiis presents it as a surname with a nickname at its base derived from the term buratto, "a sieve used to separate impurities or to classify the various parts of a solid material, in grains or in powder, of different sizes".