The authors agree that the surname Manfrè would derive from a truncated dialect form of the name Manfredi, probably the personal name of the first bearer of the surname.

E. Rossoni identifies areas of presence in Oderzo and Bassano del Grappa, in Veneto, and in Sicily, with a presence in Palermo, Gibellina, Alcamo, Gela, Lipari and Messina. F. Miranda broadens this picture and indicates that the surname appears in around 200 comuni of various regions, with two large areas of concentration: Veneto —in the Treviso and Vicenza areas— and Sicily —in the Palermo, Trapani, Caltanissetta and Messina areas. Miranda further notes groups of lesser presence in Lombardy, Lazio, Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont, Tuscany, Liguria and Calabria, and mentions that in the Enna area it is recorded in the localities of Agira and Centuripe.