The authors agree that the surname is of Germanic origin and derives from a compound given name. A. Bongioanni identifies the roots fil / filu —equivalent to the modern German viel, with the sense of "much"— and behrt / pehrt, which means "illustrious". He notes that in Lombard documents the recorded form is always Filipert, and in one of the year 765 it appears as Filippert, whence would derive possibly the surname Filipperi, documented in the region of the Marche.

V. Blunda specifies that it is a surname peculiar to Sicily and breaks down the etymon into filu berhta, with the meaning of "very illustrious" or "extremely famous". He adds a fact of historical relevance: Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy (1528–1580), known as Iron Head, recovered the Savoyard states by defeating the French army in the battle of Saint-Quentin (1557) and transferred the capital of the duchy from Chambéry to Turin in 1563, a decisive fact in the territorial consolidation of the dynasty.