E. Rossoni puts forward several hypotheses for this surname. The first links it to the Palermo area as its probable area of origin, with a possible derivation from the place name Levanzo, in the Trapani area. The second points to a Norman origin, from the personal name Levan. A third hypothesis connects it with the given name Levantino, and a fourth with the Sicilian dialect word livantinu, meaning "moody, capricious, fickle".

V. Blunda rules out the other readings and leans decidedly towards the dialect origin: the surname would derive from the Sicilian livantìnu, with the sense of "moody, odd, of changeable temper", and would have arisen as a nickname applied to a person of fickle character. Blunda further warns that the association with the Italian levantino —in the sense of "native of the Levant"— is a false folk etymology, with no historical or linguistic support.