The authors agree that the surname refers to a toponymic base related to the term càrpine or càrpino, the name of a tall tree whose wood is used in various tasks. From this root derive numerous place names distributed throughout Italy, with old or regional variants such as càrpen(e), càrpan(e), carpo and carpu.

E. De Felice notes that these place names are common throughout the Italian peninsula, although especially frequent in the north. Among the most relevant he mentions Carpi —in the Genoa, Modena, Verona and other areas—, Càrpine and Càrpino, Carpen in the Belluno area, Carpeneto and Carpineto, as well as Carpaneto, Carpanedo and Carpané. The surname is spread mainly in Liguria —with special presence in Genoa— and also in Emilia-Romagna. De Felice adds that the altered and derived forms appear sporadically in Tuscany, central Italy and the Naples area.

E. Rossoni specifies that the distribution covers the Genoa, Parma, Reggio Emilia and Mantua areas, and proposes as the most probable origin the place name Carpi, in the province of Modena, without ruling out the derivation from localities characterised by the abundance of hornbeams. Rossoni also adds a complementary hypothesis: the possible influence of the Latin personal name Carpus or Carpius as a concurrent cause in the formation of the surname.