E. Rossoni notes that the surname derives from the Venetan name of the town of Conegliano, in the Treviso area. The variants Conegliani and Conegliano would have arisen through errors of civil registry officials who interpreted the dialectal ending -an as incomplete. Rossoni documents the transformation into a surname in the 18th century with the furrier Iseppo Conegliano, and also mentions Emanuele Conegliano, an opera librettist of Jewish origin who later converted to Christianity. The Jewish community of Conegliano was especially flourishing during the 17th and 18th centuries.

As for its distribution, Rossoni indicates that Coneglian is absolutely rare and typically peculiar to the Veneto, with presence especially in the Rovigo area, while Conegliani and Conegliano are almost unique forms. F. De Laurentiis agrees on the typically Venetan character of the surname and on its toponymic base referring to Conegliano.