F. Miranda notes that this surname is a variant of Burello, with scattered presence in various Italian regions: Lazio, Lombardy, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna and Liguria. In Sicily it appears more frequently than the variant Burello, in localities of the provinces of Catania —such as Bronte, Catania and Castel di Judica—, Messina —such as Patti, Gioiosa Marea, Taormina and Furnari— and Enna —Catenanuova—.

As for the origin, Miranda proposes two possibilities: the derivation from place names, such as Burello, a hamlet of the municipality of Ostra Vetere in the Ancona area; or a nickname arisen from the archaic Venetian term burèlo, which designated a small wooden cylinder with an ovoid tip used by carpenters.

G. P. Holmes adds two other etymological hypotheses: the Sicilian word bureddu, meaning "intestine", and the French term borrel, which designated the executioner.