The authors agree that this surname derives from an Italianized hypocoristic form of the term of Greek origin chondrós (χόνδρός), which means "fat" or "big-bellied", and which constitutes an alteration of the Greek root kontos, of short stature. This latter form is also proposed as a second hypothesis of direct derivation. In both cases, it is the transformation into a surname of a nickname attributed to the first bearer according to some physical characteristic.

E. Rossoni places it as a typically Sicilian surname, concentrated above all in the Catania area —Catania, Misterbianco, Acireale, Paternò, Gravina di Catania, Motta Sant'Anastasia, Mascalucia, San Giovanni la Punta, Aci Castello and Tremestieri Etneo— and with presence also in the Gela area, in the province of Caltanissetta. F. Miranda broadens this distribution: besides the Catania area, he notes presence in the Agrigento, Caltanissetta, Ragusa, Messina and Syracuse areas —where he specifically mentions Carlentini, Lentini and Syracuse—, as well as in the Enna area, in localities such as Nicosia, Nissoria, Catenanuova and Piazza Armerina. Miranda also adds that the surname is found in other Italian regions such as Lombardy, Lazio, Piedmont, Campania and Calabria.