E. De Felice notes that the surname derives from the place names Màrsico Nuovo and Màrsico Vetere, both in the province of Potenza, and from the demonym marsicano, which may also indicate an origin in the Màrsica, the area of the Fucino basin, in Abruzzo.

E. Rossoni agrees on the link with the place name Marsico, in the Potenza area, but adds a second etymological path: the Latin cognomen Marsicus, with the meaning "native of the area of the Marsi", an ancient people of upper Abruzzo. Rossoni documents its fixing as a surname in the Cosenza area around 1664 and places the distribution of the surname in a broad arc of the peninsular south of Italy taking in the Salerno, Potenza, Bari, Cosenza and Catanzaro areas.