The authors agree that this surname refers, in one of its interpretations, to cumin, an aromatic plant of long presence in Mediterranean trade. E. Rossoni notes that the term comes from the Latin cyminum and the Greek kýminon, and points out that this etymology would correspond particularly to the Sicilian variant of the surname. V. Blunda, for his part, derives it directly from the Greek kýminon, and specifies that the surname would have arisen as a professional nickname applied to the spice merchant, or as a nickname referring to some trait associated with the condiment or its smell.

Rossoni also offers a broader geographical perspective: he indicates that the surname is spread throughout southern Italy, and notes that the variant Cimmino is characteristic of the region of Campania, especially of the Naples and Caserta areas. The variant Cimmini, considered very rare, seems to be a derivative of Cimmino. For these Campanian forms, Rossoni also proposes an alternative etymological hypothesis: they could derive from reduced forms of names of Latin origin such as Decimius or Ecimius.