E. Rossoni notes that Chiricosta seems to be peculiar to Ardore and Sant'Ilario dello Ionio, in the Reggio Calabria area, while the variant Ciricosta is characteristic of Melicucco and Rosarno, also in that same area. Rossoni places the origin of both forms in the Greek dialects of southern Italy, where the expression chiri or ciri Costa derives from the Greek kyrie Costas and literally means "lord Costa". According to this author, Costa is a Greek name of old tradition that at one time had a certain diffusion also in Italy, and these surnames arose from the personal name of the founder of each lineage.

V. Blunda agrees on the Greek origin and proposes the form Kyr Costàs, likewise with the meaning of "lord Costa". Blunda specifies that the first element is the Byzantine courtesy title kyr-, "lord", and that Costa functions as a hypocoristic of Costantino. This author also notes that the same compositional structure is found in surnames such as Cerantonio, Cerimele and Cerminara.