E. Rossoni proposes that the surname could derive from a nickname linked to the trade of nurseryman, that is, related to those who were owners of a germinarium (plant nursery). He considers it a typically Calabrian surname, and notes that the form Germinara is concentrated in the Cosenza area —especially in Campana— and in the Crotone area.

V. Blunda offers a completely different etymology: according to this author, the surname comes from the Greek Kyr Minàdas, which would mean "lord Minada". It would be a compound formed by the Byzantine courtesy title kyr- ("lord") and the personal name Minada. Blunda places it in Sicily and puts it in parallel with other surnames recorded in the same context, such as Cerantonio and Cerimele, all compounds with the same initial element.