The authors differ notably on the etymology of this surname. E. Rossoni maintains that both Cipri and its variant Cipro would derive from the name of the island of Cyprus, whether because the founders of the lineage were native to that island, or because they had fought there in the service of the Republic of Venice.

V. Blunda, on the other hand, proposes a different etymology: according to this author, the surname comes from the Greek cyprì, meaning "field guard", that is, the watchman in charge of protecting the harvests and the flocks. In this reading, the surname would have arisen as a professional nickname applied to the one who exercised that function in the Sicilian rural environment during the period of Greek presence.

As for the geographical distribution, Rossoni notes that Cipri presents areas of concentration in Rome, in Corato in the Bari area, in Palmi in the Reggio Calabria area, and in Sicily, specifically in Salemi in the Trapani area and in Palermo. The variant Cipro, for its part, is peculiar to Calvi Risorta in the Caserta area, with presence also in Sparanise and Macerata Campania.