E. De Felice notes that this surname is peculiar to Calabria and eastern Sicily, and links it to the place name Cannavà, a locality of the province of Reggio Calabria.

V. Blunda proposes, on the other hand, a Greek etymology: it derives from cannabàs, a term that designated the craftsman dedicated to the cultivation or weaving of hemp. According to this interpretation, the surname would have functioned originally as a trade nickname before becoming a surname through family transmission, within the onomastics of southern Italy.

Both hypotheses are not necessarily mutually exclusive: the Calabrian place name could derive, in turn, from the same Greek etymon referring to hemp, which would explain the presence of the surname both in Calabria and in eastern Sicily.