The authors agree that the surname derives from a byname linked to the medieval Arabic word massamuto (massamutino), which designated a coin of pure gold weighing 3.5 grams, whose use as a nickname probably alluded to the economic prosperity of the first bearer of the line.

E. Rossoni further notes a second hypothesis: the surname could derive directly from the Arabic name Mashmud or Mashmuth, with no relation to the coin. Rossoni places the surname mainly in Palermo and at Biancavilla, in the Catania area.

F. Miranda specifies that the coin was minted by the Almohads in Spain and spread through Europe, being known in Tuscany as massamutino. He adds, citing Ciccia, that the Almohads were also called Massamuti or Masmudi, a name taken from the Berber tribe of the Masmuda. Miranda documents an extensive presence in Sicily, with specific areas in the provinces of Palermo, Catania, Trapani, Enna, Syracuse and Agrigento, besides lesser cores in Tuscany, Lombardy, Piedmont, Lazio, Liguria, the Marche and Campania.