The authors agree that this surname derives from a trade nickname based on the Greek term calcòs, which designates the blacksmith or craftsman who works forged metal, and that this nickname alluded to the trade of the founding ancestor of the lineage, later becoming a surname.

E. Rossoni specifies that the form Calcò is peculiar to the Messina area, with presence documented in localities such as Alcara li Fusi, Tortorici and San Salvatore di Fitalia. V. Blunda places the surname in Sicily in general and emphasises its southern character, noting that the transformation into a surname occurred along the family line within the onomastics of southern Italy.