E. Rossoni proposes that the surname would derive from a nickname related to the Arabic word farağ, meaning "joy" or "happiness" —citing the linguist G.B. Pellegrini—, although he also notes two other hypotheses: the derivation from the place name Valle Farace, located near Castroreale, in the Messina area, or from the Greek charaki, meaning "incision".

G. Rohlfs leans decidedly towards the Greek-Byzantine origin of the surname, deriving it from the Greek χαράκι ("incision"), and notes that this etymology coincides with the name of the Valle Farace in the Castroreale area. Rohlfs documents its presence in Reggio Calabria, in the Calabro-Lucanian zone —concretely in Verbicaro—, as well as in the region of Campania and in Sicily, where it appears under the variant Faraci.

As for the geographical distribution, Rossoni details that the surname presents specific zones of presence in different regions of southern Italy: in Campania, around Naples —with records in Anacapri, Naples, Ercolano and Capri— and in the Salerno area; in Calabria, in the Cosenza area, with presence in Santa Maria del Cedro, Verbicaro, Orsomarso and Scalea; and in Sicily, in Trapani and in Altavilla Milicia, in the Palermo area. The variant Faraci, of Sicilian origin, appears widely distributed throughout the island, with greater concentration in the Enna, Trapani, Palermo, Caltanissetta and Syracuse areas.