E. Rossoni proposes two main etymological lines. The first suggests that the surname would be a dialectal modification of the medieval name Ferrando (a form of Fernando). The second links it to place names: whether the locality Faranda in the Etna zone, or the frazione Faranda of the municipality of Ucrìa, in the province of Messina. Rossoni also points to a possible relation with the place names Faro or Fara, present in different zones of Italy.

F. De Laurentiis leans mainly towards the toponymic origin from Faro or Fara, highlighting that these place names are numerous and are scattered throughout Italy. He adds a semantic interpretation of his own: he does not rule out that Faranda could allude to a "much illuminated" land.

F. Miranda gathers the same hypotheses as Rossoni —the dialectal modification of Ferrando and the place names of Etna and of Ucrìa— and incorporates a third possibility: a derivation from the term farandola, which designates a very lively and boisterous popular dance peculiar to Provence, according to the Palazzi Dictionary.

G. P. Holmes proposes, on the other hand, a Greek origin, linking the surname to the Greek proper name Farandas, without developing this hypothesis further.

V. Blunda deepens the Greek line with greater precision: according to this author, the surname comes from the Greek farantàkes, a form derived by means of the diminutive suffix -akes, characteristic of the Greek spoken in Sicily. This form would have been transmitted to the eastern part of the island during the period of Greek presence and would have become fixed as a surname in the local Greek-speaking tradition during the medieval period.

As for its geographical distribution, Miranda notes that the surname is native to eastern Sicily and is present mainly in the provinces of Messina and Catania, although it also appears in those of Palermo, Syracuse, Ragusa and Enna. Minor groups are also recorded in Lombardy, Piedmont, Lazio and Emilia-Romagna. Rossoni, for his part, specifies that the surname is peculiar to the east of Sicily and to the Reggio Calabria area.