F. Miranda notes that it is a typically Calabrian surname, with presence concentrated in the Catanzaro, Cosenza and Crotone areas, as well as in Sicily —where it appears in almost all its provinces, especially Palermo, Messina, Catania and Trapani—. According to Miranda, the surname derives from a byname originated in the Late Latin term fragalis-fragale, which means "fragrant, perfumed". He also points to a possible connection with the Arabic term faragallah or with the Arabic name Farah Allah, which would mean "joy of Allah".

F. De Laurentiis proposes, on the other hand, a base related to fraga, an archaic and regional form of fragola ("strawberry"), from which the surname could have arisen as a name of a place where wild strawberries grew, as a trade name for the one who gathered or sold them, or as a nickname of figurative or humorous use.