The authors agree that this surname derives from the name Riccardo through a southern dialect phenomenon that turns the initial r into l. E. De Felice notes that it is the dialect form of Riccardi and Ricciardi, with a documented presence from the Naples area down to Sicily, where the variant Licciardello is frequent in the Catania area.

F. Miranda broadens the etymological analysis and indicates that the base name Riccardo, of Germanic tradition, comes from the compound Rikhard, formed by Rikia ("powerful, strong") and Hardhu ("bold, valiant"). He adds, citing G. Vezzelli, that in the Sicilian and Calabrian dialects the word liccardu means "greedy, gluttonous", which opens a second semantic path for some branches of the surname.

Miranda also specifies the geographical distribution: the surname is proper to the Naples area, with specific pockets in Sicily —especially around Catania, Enna and Messina— and in Puglia. Its presence in Piedmont, Lazio, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Tuscany and Liguria is explained by the historical migrations from the south towards the north of Italy. The documented variants include Liccardo, Licciardi, Licciardello and Licciardiello.