The authors agree that this surname derives from the southern dialectal word ceràulo or ciràulo —in Calabrian ceràulu, in Sicilian ciràulu—, with the meanings of "snake charmer" and "impostor, charlatan, trickster". E. De Felice notes that the word probably continues the Greek kerdylēs, "player of the flute, of the horn", and that the surname originates in a personal name or nickname. He also indicates that it is spread in Calabria and in Sicily, and that in the variant Ciaràvolo it likewise appears in Campania and in Basilicata.

V. Blunda provides an ethnographic dimension: the ciràuli constituted a popular brotherhood whose members were held to possess magical powers against the bites of vipers, heirs of pre-Christian traditions. Blunda also highlights that the abundance of orthographic variants reflects the oral transmission of the surname throughout Sicily.