B. Zuanella places the origin of this surname in the territory of Drenchia, specifically in the village of Lase/Laze, where it is documented from the beginning of the 17th century. The parish registers of San Leonardo attest it in various forms between 1696 and 1735, sometimes as a nickname linked to a locality called Duole, later Picig, known also as Cicigoi or Čižgunji. At the end of the 18th century it also appears in the Tolminotto. According to Zuanella, Cicigoi was an old Slavic anthroponym that over time became a surname, and belongs to a series of surnames formed with the suffix -goj, spread mainly on the western Slovene ethnic-linguistic border; its meaning remains obscure.

E. Rossoni describes it as characteristic of the Udine and Gorizia areas, with presence in Cividale del Friuli, Premariacco and San Giovanni al Natisone. According to Rossoni, it would derive from the old name of a Slovene village, in turn coming from the Slavic word ĉika, meaning "cow". The variant Cicigoj, practically unique, would be a more archaic form of the same surname. Both authors agree in noting the Slavic substrate as the base of the surname and its rooting in Friuli-Venezia Giulia.