E. Rossoni proposes that the surname could derive from the archaic French surname Gramaille, itself perhaps from the name of the village of Cramaille, in Picardy, near Reims. Geographically, Rossoni notes specific areas in Piedmont —in the Cuneo and Turin areas—, in the region of Campania —in the Naples and Avellino areas— and in the Agrigento area.

V. Blunda proposes a different etymology, confined to Sicily: the surname would come from the Sicilian dialect word gramàgghia, which designated mourning dress or gloomy attire. The term has a medieval root and would have given rise to the surname as a nickname applied to someone who habitually dressed in dark clothing, or to someone associated with a prolonged period of mourning.

The two proposals are independent of each other and could point to different clusters of origin: one branch of possible French influence settled in northern and southern Italy, and another of Sicilian dialect root.