The authors agree that this surname derives from the place name Gangi, a locality of the province of Palermo, in Sicily. E. De Felice notes that it was formed from that place name and from the gentilic gancitano, and considers it a surname of Sicilian character.

F. Miranda goes deeper into the origin of the place name and proposes that it comes from the Greek Engyon or from the Arabic Hangias. G. P. Holmes, for his part, attributes to the place name a probable Late Greek origin, without specifying the etymological form.

Miranda also describes the geographical distribution of the surname: besides Sicily —where it appears in all its provinces, with greater presence in the Catania area and in that of Palermo—, it is recorded in Piedmont, Lombardy, Lazio, Tuscany, Liguria and Emilia-Romagna.