E. Rossoni notes that the surname would derive from the medieval name Golfarius —see also the entry Golfarini— or Galferius, documented in the Codice Diplomatico della Lombardia Medioevale under the year 1151 and in a Florentine document of 1295. He adds that the surname goes back to the Old Germanic Wulfhari, whose literal meaning is "wolf in arms", a given name later Gallicized as Golfier and made famous by the Montgolfier brothers.

A. Bongioanni agrees on the Germanic etymon Wulfhari / Wulfari and considers the surname the Tuscan form of that name. He supplies early testimonies: a Farfa document of the year 801 records Gulfarius, and a letter of Saint Gregory the Great of 599 already sets down Gulfari. The roots are wulf / wolf ("wolf", and by extension "warrior") and hari / her ("army"). Bongioanni points to the French Golfier and Gouffier as parallels, and indicates that surnames such as Golfarelli (Tuscan), Burféri (Ligurian) and Brofferio (Piedmontese) share the same Germanic origin.