E. Rossoni notes that this surname would derive from medieval alterations of the Latin cognomen Canesius or Canisius. Its diffusion would have increased during the Renaissance through the cult of the Jesuit father Saint Peter Canisius, whose surname Latinised as Canisius comes from the Dutch Kanijs and whose devotion was especially intense in Switzerland, Austria and southern Germany.

As for its geographical distribution, Rossoni documents it mainly in Liguria, with presence in the La Spezia area —localities such as Portovenere and Follo— and in the Genoa area, including Rapallo and Santa Margherita Ligure. He also records presence in Lombardy, in the Milan, Cremona and Piacenza areas, as well as in Tuscany, in the Massa-Carrara, Pisa, Livorno and Grosseto areas.

P. Regati characterises it as a surname typical of Rapallo, a fact that agrees with what Rossoni notes for that same Ligurian locality.