The surname Laterza derives from the place name Laterza, a town in the province of Taranto, in Apulia. It is considered typical of southern Italy, with presence also in Basilicata and Campania, and extending more broadly across the Italian peninsula.

E. De Felice identifies the toponymic origin without elaborating on the etymology of the place name itself. E. Rossoni, confirming the same toponymic derivation, adds a historical hypothesis: the name Laterza would trace back to the tertiatores, an agrarian figure introduced by the Lombards. According to Rossoni, when the Lombards seized certain territories, they transformed the existing settlers — who had until then been tenants or conductores — into tertiatores, obliged to hand over a share of their produce to the invading warriors who had divided the lands among themselves. In this reading, the place name Laterza preserves the memory of that Lombard system of land tenure, and the surname in turn takes its name from the locality.

Rossoni further notes that the surname is characteristic of Apulia while also being found across mainland Italy more generally.