E. Rossoni proposes that most of these surnames would derive from a Latinisation of the German name Kamel, documented at the end of the 17th century with the Jesuit Georg Joseph Kamel, who Latinised his name as Georgius Josephus Camellius and gave his name to the camellia, a plant that he introduced from Asia. Rossoni also considers possible a derivation from the name of Celtic origin Camelian, linked to Saint Cameliano, bishop of Troyes between 478 and 525, and does not rule out in some cases a relation with the Arabic name Kamel, associated with the sultan Malik-al Kamel, who in 1229 ceded Jerusalem to Frederick II. Geographically, he places the form Cameli in the Macerata, Ascoli Piceno, Teramo and Pescara areas, in the regions of the Marche and Abruzzo.

V. Blunda offers a different interpretation for the Sicilian case: he considers the surname of dialectal origin and classifies it among the phytonymic surnames, that is, derived from names of plants or fruits. According to Blunda, it comes from the dialectal expression pùmu camèli, which designates a variety of very sweet apple cultivated in the orchards of Sicily. He warns that the popular association with the Italian cammello ("camel") is a false etymology, without historical or linguistic foundation.