The surname shows differentiated areas of presence: the most important covers the Milan area, the Brianza and the Como area; others are located in the Forlì area and in the Ascoli Piceno area.

E. Rossoni proposes several hypotheses about its origin. One of them links it to a nickname derived from the dialect term maron, which designates both the large chestnut and, figuratively, a blunder or piece of clumsiness. Another hypothesis points to a toponymic origin in the village of Marone, situated on the left shore of Lake Iseo, in the Brescia area. A third reading derives it from the Lombard name Audimar, which in Italian would have evolved towards Adimaro, then Adimarone and finally Marone.

This last etymological line agrees with what R. Brondolo puts forward: he proposes a derivation from (Adi)maro, a name of Lombard origin, to which the augmentative suffix -one would have been added, thus giving rise to the surname.