The authors agree that the surname derives from the dialectal term that designates the carnation —garòfano in standard Italian, with regional variants garòfalo and garòfolo, coming from the Greek karyóphyllon—, used originally as a name or nickname and later transformed into a surname. E. De Felice documents early forms of the name in Genoa in 1157 and in Molfetta in 1273.

Both authors also note that in Calabrian and Sicilian the term designates also the whirlpools that form in the Strait of Messina, although with slight differences: De Felice gathers the forms garòfalu and galòfuru, while F. Miranda —citing Piccitto— indicates that in Sicilian dialect the wind whirls that form in the streets are called garofuli.

Miranda also provides two complementary hypotheses: an etymology from the name of Lombard origin Gairulf-Garolf, and a possible toponymic origin in localities such as Garofali, in the province of Caserta, or others similar now disappeared. The surname presents multiple independent clusters of origin (ceppi), arisen in different regions without direct relation between them, with greater presence in southern Italy, particularly in Campania, Sicily, Calabria and Puglia.