E. Rossoni maintains that the surname Contri would derive, directly or through hypocoristic forms, from reduced forms of the medieval name Bonincontro, one of the numerous names of good omen given to children. Its area of origin would seem to be situated in the Modena area, with presence also in the provinces of Grosseto, Florence, Bologna and Vicenza.

Rossoni also notes that the close variants present differentiated geographical distributions: Contrini is peculiar to the Brescia area and to the Trentino; Contrino is typically Sicilian, concentrated in the Agrigento area; and Contro is characteristic of the Veneto, especially in the Vicenza, Venice and Rovigo areas, extending as far as the Ferrara area.

The proposal of F. De Laurentiis, which links the surname to a nickname Contraros derived from the Latin contrarosus meaning "the one who stands opposite", of a combative character, does not have support in specialised sources of Italian onomastics and is incompatible with the etymology documented from Bonincontro. For this reason, Rossoni's interpretation is considered the most soundly based.