The authors agree that the surname has an Arabic origin. G. P. Holmes defines it briefly as coming from Arabic, with the meaning "happiness", and notes that its cradle is at Tortorici.

F. Miranda develops the various etymological hypotheses in detail. One of them derives it from the Italianization of the Turkish name Mazhar or of the Arabic Musar'àh, with the sense of "happiness". Another hypothesis links it with Sicilian dialect forms: musarra designates in Sicily both a banana tree and a musa —a wind musical instrument— or the boat from which the rais directs the fishing operations in the tuna traps. Miranda also records the proposal of the scholar Pellegrini, who relates it to the Sicilian dialect musciaru, itself derived from the Arabic mansàr or minsàr, with meanings such as "heap of fruit" or "hurdle on which the fruit is placed to dry in the sun"; the form musciara would designate a "rustic pallet" or a "heap of stones gathered in a cultivated field".

According to Miranda, the surname is typically Sicilian and is concentrated mainly in the Messina area —in localities such as Tortorici, San Marco d'Alunzio, Caronia and Capo d'Orlando— and in the Catania area, with a presence also in the Syracuse, Palermo, Enna and Caltanissetta areas. Miranda likewise notes its scattered presence in Lombardy, Piedmont, Veneto and Liguria.