E. De Felice proposes that the surname reflects an auspicious name of Arabic origin, mann Allah, which means "grace, gift of Allah, of God". The form Mandalà would be an adaptation by hypercorrection of the original form Mannalà, and is linked mainly with Palermo and western Sicily.

E. Rossoni confirms the Sicilian presence of the surname, specifying that it is concentrated in Palermo and in Piana degli Albanesi, a locality of the Palermo area, and points to a possible Albanian root. Rossoni further distinguishes a related variant, Mandalari, proper to the Reggio Calabria area, in particular to Condofuri, and suggests for both forms an origin in a nickname linked to the trade of maker of bolts or locks, a hypothesis that does not coincide with the Arabic etymology proposed by De Felice.