E. Rossoni proposes that the surname could derive from a dialectal gentilic form of the place name Favara, a locality of the Agrigento area, and considers it typical of Palermo and its surroundings, with presences also in the Agrigento area.

V. Blunda offers a different explanation of an occupational base: the surname would come from the dialectal word favaru, meaning "cultivator or seller of broad beans". This trade was especially visible in the Sicilian markets during the spring, when the tender broad beans were sold in the pod for immediate consumption, and in the dry months when they were traded shelled as a pantry pulse. Blunda notes that the surname could have originated directly in that trade, and relates it lexically with kindred forms such as Favaloro, Favata and Favella, all linked to the same root.

Both authors agree in placing the surname in Sicily, although they differ on its etymology: Rossoni points to a toponymic origin, while Blunda inscribes it in the tradition of the trade surnames.