E. De Felice explains that the surname derives from the given name Luciano, itself from the Latin Lucianus — in Greek Lukianós — a cognomen formed from the old Roman praenomen Lucius. De Felice further notes that in Naples the name Luciano also alluded to the inhabitants of the Santa Lucia district, for the most part fishermen and sailors, a local association that would have influenced the spread of the surname in that area. Geographically, he observes that Luciano is found mainly in the region of Campania, while regional variants include Luciàn in Veneto, Lucianò in Calabria, and Lucianaz in the Aosta Valley.

G. Rohlfs concurs on the Greek form Lukianós as the etymological base, though he emphasizes its Greco-Byzantine character and its diffusion as an anthroponym within that historical and cultural context. Rohlfs documents the name throughout Calabria and in the Neapolitan and Sicilian spheres, treating it as a sister form of Luciano and directing the reader to the variant Lucianò.

It is also recorded that Luciani belongs to the category of patronymic surnames — that is, surnames derived from the given name of the father.