E. Rossoni notes that Maffè is characteristic of Cerano and Trecate, in the Novara area, while Maffeis predominates in the Bergamo and Brescia areas, and Maffeo shows a presence in Piedmont, Rome and Campania. All these surnames derive from modifications of the medieval name Maffeo. Rossoni documents the fixing as a surname in the Bergamo area, at Ponteranica, at the beginning of the 15th century, with the notary Bassiano de Maffeis; between 1588 and 1590 Laurentius de Maffeis figures as Vicarius Vallis Brembane Superioris, and in the 15th century a Franciscus de Maffeis notarius appears in Tortona.

R. Brondolo specifies the more remote origin of the base name: it comes from Matteo, through the phonetic shift of th to f, characteristic of northern Italy and of the canton of Ticino (Switzerland).