The authors agree that the surname Cipriano derives from the Latin name Cyprianus, in turn from the Greek kyprios, meaning "native of the island of Cyprus". Its diffusion is due mainly to the Christian cult of several saints with that name.

F. Miranda specifies that among the venerated saints are Saint Cyprian Thascius Caecilius, bishop of Carthage beheaded in the year 258, and Saint Cyprian, a martyr in Nicomedia under the emperor Diocletian. The surname is present in almost 500 comuni of Italy, being typical of the south —especially Campania, Sicily and Basilicata—, with ramifications in Lombardy, Piedmont, Puglia, Lazio, Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto. In Sicily it appears in all the provinces, with greater concentration in the Messina, Palermo and Catania areas.

A. Bongioanni adds that the feast of Saint Cyprian bishop of Carthage is celebrated on 16 September. He also notes that from this name —or perhaps by contraction with Ciro or Cirillo— related surnames derive: the surnames of the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia Civran and Cevran, the Friulian Zevráin, and the Piedmontese-Friulian surname Cirio.