E. Rossoni maintains that this surname would derive from reduced forms of Abundanza and Abundanzo, an Italianization of the Late Latin name Abundantius. This name recalls the deacon martyred during the persecutions of the emperor Diocletian in the year 304. According to Rossoni, Danza would seem typical of the Foggia area —especially in Sant'Agata di Puglia and Rignano Garganico—, as well as of the Bari and Taranto areas.

F. De Laurentiis proposes a different etymology: he considers that the base of the surname is the nickname Danza, derived from the verb danzare ("to dance"), with the sense of "the one who dances" or "the one who knows how to dance", arisen from a trade name or a denomination of current use.

Both hypotheses are independent of each other and are not mutually exclusive, since the surname could have independent origins in different regions of Italy. Rossoni's theory points to an anthroponymic origin of Latin root, while that of De Laurentiis refers to an occupational or descriptive origin linked to the activity of dancing.