The authors agree that this surname is of Lombard origin and derives from the place name Galbiate, a locality of the Lecco area, in Lombardy. It is a toponymic surname, that is, formed from the name of a place.

On the etymology of the place name, E. Rossoni notes that the most probable formation is that of the Latin personal name Galbius to which the suffix -ate, which indicates belonging, was added. This same interpretation appears in Surnames in Italy, where it is specified that Galbiate is located on Lake Oggiono and that the place name is of predial nature —that is, associated with a property or estate—, with a root in the Roman name Galbius.

As for the historical testimonies, Surnames in Italy records the form da Galbià in Monza from 1537. Rossoni, for his part, mentions an earlier trace in the historian Giorgio Galbiati towards the end of the 15th century, and in the year 1600 the parish priest Cristoforo Galbiato in Cassago, in the Lecco area. E. De Felice characterises the surname as northern Lombard and places its area of diffusion in upper Lombardy and the Milan area.