E. Rossoni proposes that this surname should derive from nicknames linked to the trade of cultivators and sellers of broad beans, an activity that the founders of the different lineages would have exercised. The surname presents multiple independent clusters of origin (ceppi), arisen in different regions without direct relation between them. Rossoni locates specific zones of presence in the Verona area, in the La Spezia area and in Rome, in addition to several nuclei in Sicily: Bronte, Catania and Maletto in the Catania area; Terrasini and Palermo in the Palermo area; and Leonforte in the Enna area. The variant Favazzo, on the other hand, is typically Sicilian, concentrated in the Messina area, in localities such as Tortorici, Capo d'Orlando and San Fratello.

On the etymological origin, F. De Laurentiis considers it derived from the term fava (broad bean), while G. P. Holmes specifies that it is a pejorative of that same term, which suggests a nickname of a popular character before its transformation into a surname.