E. Rossoni considers that these are Venetan patronymic forms with the suffix -ato, peculiar to families whose founder of lineage had a father named Ferigo or Federico. The variants in -atto respond to dialectal alterations. Ferigato is very rare and seems to originate in the Verona area, while Ferigatto and Ferrigatto are practically unique.

F. De Laurentiis notes that the surname derives from an abbreviated form of Federici or Ferighi, and that its base is the name Federico, whose meaning would be "dominator with peace".