E. Rossoni notes that it is a clearly Sicilian surname, with presence concentrated in the Agrigento, Caltanissetta and Palermo areas, especially in the localities of Mazzarino and Ravanusa. Its etymology is obscure; it could derive from the reduction of names of places or from nicknames of Modern Greek origin linked to physical traits of the founder of the lineage, such as thick lips (from the Greek chilà).

F. Miranda confirms the Sicilian origin and broadens the geographical distribution: besides Sicily, he records small areas of presence in Lombardy, Liguria, Lazio, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Campania and Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Within Sicily, he documents it in the provinces of Caltanissetta, Palermo, Enna, Catania, Trapani and Agrigento. On the etymology, Miranda adds a hypothesis not mentioned by Rossoni: the possible derivation from the Sicilian term chioli, which according to the Piccitto vocabulary means "scops owl" or "owl", a probable nickname of the first bearer. He also considers, like Rossoni, the possibility of a derivation by aphaeresis —dropping of the initial syllable— of a name of a locality, or of a Modern Greek nickname related to the Greek chilà (χείλος, "lips").