E. Rossoni notes that the surname has independent origins in different regions of Italy: a presence in western Piedmont, another between the Bergamo area and the neighbouring Brescia area —with a particular concentration in Casnigo and Parre—, and a third in the Piacenza area. According to Rossoni, it would derive from the medieval name Imbertus, documented in a text of 1409.

The surname is also held to be anthroponymic in nature and to go back to the Germanic name Heimbert, whose meaning is read as "splendour of the homeland". This etymology is consistent with the base Imbertus noted by Rossoni, since both forms go back to the same name of Germanic origin. The Val Seriana, in the Bergamo area, is mentioned as a reference area, which agrees with the geographical distribution indicated by Rossoni.