The surname Mattavelli is held to derive from devotion to the evangelist Matthew, and is associated especially with the eastern Brianza, in the Milan area.

E. Rossoni places the surname as typical of the Milan area and notes that, while some sources consider its etymological origin obscure, another reading derives it from the name Matteo, whose medieval diminutive form —Matteello— would have given rise to the surname Mattavelli. Rossoni documents it in localities of the eastern Brianza such as Bernareggio, Cornate, Colnago, Trezzo, Gorgonzola, Vimercate, Agrate, Busnago and Bussero, all in the region of Lombardy.