V. Blunda proposes that this Sicilian surname derives from the dialectal compound càrni mòdda, which means literally "soft flesh" and alludes to a fearful or pusillanimous person. According to Blunda, it is a nickname of a mocking character that became a surname, formed from noun plus adjective, a structure that also appears in other Sicilian surnames such as Boccaforno or Buccafusca.

From another perspective, the surname would reflect the Arabic influence characteristic of Sicilian onomastics. This interpretation, attributed to G. Carnemolla, derives it from the Arabic karm mullah, that is, "the vineyard of Allah": karm designates in Arabic the vine, the grape or the vineyard, while mulla is the Italianised form of mullah, a term linked to Muslim culture. Both hypotheses agree in placing the origin of the surname in Sicily, although they differ radically in their etymology: one links it to the Sicilian dialect and to character traits, and the other to the Arabic lexical heritage of the island.