E. Rossoni classifies this surname among the Sicilian surnames of uncertain origin. He notes that the form Censabella is concentrated in the Enna area —specifically in Nissoria, Leonforte and Catenanuova— and in the Catania area; the variant Cenzabella appears in the Messina and Catania areas, while Gensabella is distributed between the Messina, Enna and Catania areas.

F. Miranda agrees in placing the origin in Nissoria, Leonforte and Catenanuova, and confirms the variants Cenzabella, Gensabella and Genzabella. He proposes several etymological hypotheses: the most considered points to a Hebrew or Phoenician origin, derived from the name Jezabel, with the meaning of "consecrated to God"; another hypothesis derives it from the aphaeresis of the name Vincenza ('Enza) joined to the adjective bella; a third hypothesis, less accepted, links it to the Breton Jezequel. Miranda adds that the surname also appears, in reduced clusters, outside Sicily: in Lombardy, Piedmont, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna.