E. Rossoni notes that the surname could derive from the Latin cognomen Famia, although with greater probability it is an alteration of the Greek surname Phamias. He considers it typical of the Messina and Catania areas and of the south of Calabria. In an additional integration, Rossoni gathers the hypothesis of G. Rohlfs, according to which the surname derives from the place name Famà, the name of a locality of Alì Terme, in the Messina area, and of a homonymous place name near Arena, in the Catanzaro area; the ultimate origin would be the Greek personal name Famàis, documented in numerous papyri.

F. Miranda agrees on the Greek origin of the surname —whose etymological base he transcribes as φαμάς— and on the toponymic hypothesis of Rohlfs. Miranda adds that D. Macris classifies it as a cognome agentis or occupational one with a suffix in -άς, that is, formed with a suffix that in Greek indicates a trade, although without specifying which one.

G. Rohlfs describes it as a surname of Greek-Byzantine origin present in the Catanzaro area, and interprets it specifically as an alteration of Famà, produced by the loss of the final grave accent. Rohlfs considers it a sibling form of Famà.

V. Blunda takes up the Greek base famàs and specifies that it is a derivative with the agentive suffix -as, common in the repertoire of surnames of Byzantine tradition. According to Blunda, this form was transmitted to eastern Sicily during the period of Greek presence and became fixed as a surname in the medieval local Greek-speaking tradition of that zone of the island.

As for the geographical distribution, Miranda is the most detailed: he notes that the surname is present in Sicily in all its provinces, with greater concentration in the Messina area —where it stands out in localities such as Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto and Santa Lucia del Mela— and in the Catania area, with presence also in those of Caltanissetta and Palermo. Outside Sicily, it is recorded with less density in Lombardy, Calabria, Piedmont, Lazio, Liguria, Puglia and Campania.