The authors agree that this surname derives from place names formed on the word cèrro, a variety of oak (Quercus cerris) widely distributed in peninsular Italy. Among the related place names are Cèrro, Cèrri, Cerréto, Cerréta, Cerétto, Cerétti, Ceréte, Ceréda, Cerrina, Cerrióne and Cerróne.

E. De Felice notes that some surnames of this group, such as Cerro or Cierro, and Cerruti or Ceruti, may have been formed, or crossed, with regional words for cirro, results of the Latin cirrus, "lock of hair, curl". He also indicates that the surname is spread throughout northern Italy, and that certain variants also appear in Tuscany —especially Cerreti, Cerrini and Cerrato—, in central and southern peninsular Italy, with particular presence of Cerrone in the south.

E. Rossoni adds that the origin can also be related to nicknames linked to the presence of Turkey oaks near the family dwellings. He documents the transformation into a surname in the Lunigiana in 1550, with a notary called Giovanni Michele dei Cerri. As for the distribution, he places Cerri in a western strip of central-northern Italy, with specific areas in the provinces of Milan, Novara and Pavia, in those of Pisa and Lucca, and in Lazio.