The authors agree in noting that this surname is typical of the southeast of Sicily. F. Miranda details its presence in numerous provinces of the island —Syracuse, Ragusa, Agrigento, Catania, Messina, Palermo and Enna—, with subsequent ramification towards other regions such as Lazio, the Marche, Lombardy, Campania, Piedmont and Puglia.

According to Miranda, the surname arises from the transformation into a surname of an ancient given name imposed on daughters of the first Christians, in allusion to one of the theological virtues. The term comes from the Latin fidere, which means "to trust"; in Greek, πίστις (pistis) designates "the one who has trust". Miranda also notes that Fede was a divinity of Roman mythology, goddess of loyalty, and that the surname could also be an apocope —that is, an abbreviated form— of names such as Federico or Federica.