E. Rossoni considers that these are forms of Modern Greek origin linked to localities such as Cassano di Piano di Sorrento, in the Naples area; Cassano Irpino, in the Avellino area; or Cassano allo Ionio, in the Cosenza area. In all cases, the surname would have indicated the place of provenance of its first bearers. Rossoni also notes presence of the surname in the Catania area, in localities such as Piedimonte Etneo, Linguaglossa and Giarre.

V. Blunda proposes a direct Greek etymology: it derives from the term cassanìtes, a gentilic of the Byzantine repertoire formed with the suffix -ites, which indicates provenance. According to Blunda, the surname was incorporated into Sicilian onomastics following the habitual pattern of the fixing of Greek gentilics as family names, without the author specifying the concrete locality to which that gentilic refers.

Both interpretations agree on the Greek substrate of the surname and on the fact that its original meaning alluded to the geographical origin of the bearer, although they differ in the mechanism: Rossoni associates it with concrete place names of southern Italy, while Blunda explains it from a gentilic suffix of Byzantine tradition rooted in Sicily.