The authors agree that Di Battista is a patronymic surname formed by the particle di ("son of") followed by the proper name Battista. The etymology is transparent: Battista comes from the Christian Latin Baptista, an adaptation of the Greek Baptistés, derived from the verb baptízein ("to submerge in water, to baptise"). It is the epithet with which the Gospels designate Saint John the Baptist to distinguish him from Saint John the Evangelist.

E. De Felice frames Di Battista within the onomastic group of Battisti, which includes variants such as Abbattista, De Battista, Batista and numerous derivatives: Battistelli, Battistini, Battistoni, Battistòn, Battistèlla, Battistetti, Battistutti, Battistutta, and abbreviated forms such as Titta and Tittoni, among others. He notes that the surname spread throughout peninsular Italy, with special presence in the northeast of Italy —in the regions of Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trentino-Alto Adige—, as well as in Genoa, the region of Campania and Puglia. De Felice specifies that the form Di Battista is characteristic of the centre and south of Italy, while De Battista predominates in the Veneto and bordering zones. He also adds that in some regions the name Battista also designated the servant of well-off families or, in an affectionate sense, a simple and naive person.

E. Rossoni places this surname mainly in Abruzzo, Lazio and possibly Puglia.