E. Rossoni places this surname specifically in Palmi, in the Reggio Calabria area, and derives it from a nickname based on the Calabrian dialect term nchiummàtu, with the sense of "drunk", probably applied to a founding ancestor with that characteristic.

V. Blunda places it in Sicily and agrees on the dialect etymon, recording the word 'nchiummàtu with the literal meaning "leaded" and the figurative one of "drunk, heavy with drink". The image evoked is that of a man overcome by wine, as though he had lead in his legs. Blunda also points to its origin as a nickname applied to a habitual drinker before it became a surname.

Both authors therefore concur on the dialect etymon and on the semantic value linked to drunkenness, although they differ on the region of origin: Rossoni confines it to Calabria and Blunda attributes it to Sicily. This divergence suggests that the surname may have arisen independently in both regions from one and the same shared dialect word.