E. Rossoni proposes two hypotheses of origin. The first derives the surname from the medieval names Cavatia or Cavatinus, with documentation in the Diplomatic Code of medieval Lombardy from 1180. The second links it to a homonymous locality, from the Middle Latin cava, meaning "ditch", "low place" or "valley", with presence documented in the Ferrara area from 1195. Rossoni records the surname and its variants in various areas of northern Italy: Cavazza in the Verona, Mantua, Modena, Bologna and Piedmont areas; Cavazzi in the Bologna, Piacenza and Sondrio areas; Cavazzini in the Parma and Ferrara areas; and Cavazzoni in the Mantua, Reggio Emilia, Modena and Bologna areas.

V. Blunda presents a different etymology restricted to Sicily. He considers that it is a surname of Sicilian dialectal origin, formed from the nickname cavezza, a word that in that dialect designates the seagull. Blunda warns that the association with the Italian cavezza ("halter") constitutes a false etymology. As a surname, it would have arisen from a nickname applied to talkative people or those with a shrill voice, a frequent motivation in Sicilian surnames based on noisy birds, together with forms such as Ciavola or Cornacchia.