The authors agree that this surname has as its base the name Màuro, which continues the Latin cognomen Maurus, the ethnic name of the Mauri, that is, "inhabitant or native of Mauretania, of North Africa". Saint Maurus, one of the first disciples of Saint Benedict, is celebrated on 15 January and contributed to the spread of the name as a Christian anthroponym.

A. Bongioanni notes that in Veneto the diphthong au is regularly reduced to o, which explains the enormous diffusion of surnames such as Moro, Moretti, Morini and Moroni in that region, not excluding Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The surname is found mainly in southern Italy and in Veneto, with patronymic forms such as De Mauro, Di Mauro and Lo Mauro, as well as the derivative Mauriello in the Naples area.

F. De Laurentiis considers it a variant of the surname Mauri.

P. Durante proposes instead a Greek origin, derived from amaurós, with the meaning "black" or "dark".