E. Rossoni refers to the surname Argenio, without developing an analysis of his own for this form.

V. Blunda proposes a Germanic origin for this surname, derived from the compound Harja Gern, formed by harja (army, host) and gern (desirous, eager), meaning "eager for the host" or "yearning for combat". He notes that the root gern survives in modern German with the sense of "gladly, willingly", which reflects the positive valuation of active desire in ancient Germanic culture. Although he characterises it as a Sicilian surname, he indicates that it is preserved mainly in Puglia and in other zones of southern Italy, where the Lombard anthroponymy left especially dense traces after the establishment of the Duchy of Benevento.