The authors agree that the surname and its variants derive from nicknames linked to the habitual consumption of onions, to the trade of onion cultivator or, according to F. Miranda, possibly also to some physical characteristic of the first bearer. The ultimate etymon goes back to the Latin cepulla, a diminutive form of cepa, "onion", as G. P. Holmes notes.

The authors agree that the surname is spread throughout Italy, with three areas of greater concentration: the province of Cosenza, Sicily —especially in the Palermo and Agrigento areas— and Lazio. Miranda broadens this distribution and indicates presence also in Lombardy, Piedmont, Campania, Abruzzo, Liguria and Tuscany, with clusters documented in numerous localities of the provinces of Trapani, Catania, Messina, Ragusa and Enna.

E. Rossoni describes in detail the geographical distribution of the variants. Cipolletta presents two areas of origin, in the Marche and in Campania. Cipolletti is concentrated in the central strip that covers the southern Marche, Umbria, the Rome area, that of Teramo and that of L'Aquila, with a minor cluster in the Naples area. Cipolli has presence in the Modena and Pisa areas. Cipollini, spread through the centre-north, seems to originate in three areas: the Marche, Lazio and Tuscany.

Rossoni adds that Cipollone is clearly peculiar to Abruzzo, with secondary areas in the Rome and Frosinone areas, and that Cipolloni is well represented in the central strip that comprises the Marche, Umbria, Lazio, the Teramo and L'Aquila areas. Cipullo is characteristic of the Caserta and Naples areas, while Cipollo, of very scarce presence, corresponds to the Naples area.