The authors agree that this surname is widely spread throughout Italy. Its base is found in personal names already common in the early Middle Ages, which continue nicknames, trade names, titles and ranks formed from cavallo, cavallaro —"keeper, dealer or driver of horses; messenger or courier on horseback"— and cavalière —"the one who goes on horseback; soldier or officer of cavalry; belonging to the cavalry as a feudal institution"—.

E. De Felice notes that in some cases the surname can also derive from place names of the same etymology, such as Cavallaro in the Sondrio area, Cavallari in the L'Aquila area, Cavallèri in the Turin area, Cavallino in the Venice, Forlì and Lecce areas, Cavallina in the Florence area, Cavallini in the Savona area, and Cavalloni in the L'Aquila area.