E. Rossoni notes that Chillè is characteristic of Messina and its area, with presence in Torregrotta, Rometta and Monforte San Giorgio. According to Rossoni, the surname derives from the medieval name Chillé, which through the French Guillé or Guilhem goes back to the Germanic name Wilhelm, known in Spanish as Guillermo. It is a surname arisen from the personal name of the founder of the lineage.

V. Blunda proposes a different etymology: it derives from the Greek Achilleýs, "Achilles", and would represent an abbreviated form of that Greek personal name, preserved in the Greek of Sicily with the initial a- lost. Blunda establishes a parallel with the surname Achille, which shares the same etymon but through a more conservative form.