The authors agree that the surname derives from the Italian word compagno ("companion"), used as a nickname. E. Rossoni notes that it could also come from a reduced form of surnames such as Boncompagni, and documents records from the 14th century: a notarial deed of Bormio of 1334 mentions one Compagnono ser Grassi.

F. De Laurentiis broadens the interpretation and proposes two paths of origin: on the one hand, the medieval nickname compagno in its different senses according to the period and the region; on the other, especially in central-northern Italy and in Tuscany, the abbreviated form of Buoncompagno, a name of good omen that expressed the wish that the son would be "a good companion". In particular, De Laurentiis suggests that Compagnone would have arisen as a nickname applied to a jovial person, easy in company.

As for its geographical distribution, Rossoni places the surname mainly in zones between Frosinone, Caserta and Naples, with additional presence in Sicily, in the Enna and Catania areas.