G. Rohlfs considers that this surname is of Greek-Byzantine origin and derives it from the ancient Greek personal name φιλόκωμος. He documents it in Catanzaro and Reggio Calabria, as well as in different localities of the province of Reggio Calabria —Cittanova, Mèlito, the Locri area—, and also notes Neapolitan and Sicilian presence. For Rohlfs, the surname reflects the Byzantine influence in southern Italy.

E. Rossoni agrees in linking the surname to a Greek base, although he channels it through the Latin cognomen Philocomus, documented in the De Grammaticis of Suetonius. Rossoni notes that Filocamo is typical of the Strait zone, that is, Messina and Reggio Calabria, and documents traces of a family with that surname in the Reggio Calabria area from the 16th century. He also adds two variants: Filocomo, which he locates in Schiavonea, in the Cosenza area, although he warns that it is very infrequent, and Filogamo, which he places in Naples.

P. Durante also ascribes the surname to Greek and proposes the meaning of "active worker", from its roots.