The authors agree in noting that the Sicilian dialectal term girbinu (also recorded as girbìnu) means "sky-blue, of light eyes, blond". However, they differ as to the origin of the surname.

F. Miranda proposes a geographical etymology: the surname would derive from Gerbia (Djerba), an island situated in the Gulf of Gabès, off the coasts of Tunisia, which was under the control of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from the Norman period until the Aragonese one (1135–1392). According to Miranda, the groups coming from that island who moved towards Sicily and southern Italy were called gerbini, and from that ethnic demonym the surname would have arisen. The same author mentions that the dialectal meaning of girbinu was recorded by Piccitto.

V. Blunda, on the other hand, considers the surname to be of Sicilian dialectal origin, formed from a chromatic nickname applied to persons of bluish iris or blond hair, a trait popularly associated with Norman or Aragonese ancestry. Blunda also notes that the variants Cerbino, Cervino and Giurbino reflect alternations typical of Sicilian: g-/c-, gir-/giur- and internal b/v oscillation.

Miranda also documents the geographical distribution of the surname: it presents zones of greater concentration in Sicily and Piedmont, with a more reduced presence in Lombardy, Lazio, Liguria, Sardinia, Emilia-Romagna and Apulia. Within Sicily, it is recorded in all the provinces, with a special presence in Messina, Catania, Trapani and Palermo.