F. Miranda considers that this surname probably derives from an erroneous transcription of Fasano or Fasana, forms in turn originated in a nickname taken from the dialectal word fasana, which designates the female of the pheasant, perhaps alluding to a person of ostentatious bearing. V. Blunda agrees on the dialectal and zoonymic origin, but records it directly from the Sicilian word faxana, meaning "pheasant". Blunda broadens the interpretation: the surname could have arisen from the trade of the one in charge of the noble hunting reserves —where the bird was raised for the seigneurial tables during the late medieval period— or from a nickname applied to someone of an affected gait and showy appearance, by analogy with the bird.

Miranda documents the presence of the surname in several regions of Italy: Sicily, Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Liguria, Abruzzo and Lazio. In Sicily, the greatest concentration is recorded in the province of Caltanissetta —in localities such as Gela, San Cataldo, Caltanissetta, Marianopoli, Vallelunga Pratameno, Villalba, Butera, Delia and Serradifalco—, followed by the provinces of Enna, Palermo, Messina, Catania and Ragusa.