E. Rossoni considers this surname almost unique and probably an altered form of Meliadò, better documented and specific to Calabria, in particular to the Reggio Calabria area and to Lamezia Terme, in the Catanzaro area. According to Rossoni, it would derive from a dialect alteration of the Greek name Meliedes, with the meaning "sweet as honey".

G. Rohlfs places it within the set of surnames of Greco-Byzantine origin and documents it in the city of Reggio Calabria and its province —including Rosarno—, as well as in localities of the Catanzaro area such as Nicòtera and Lamezia Terme. Rohlfs further notes a presence in Sicily and records the variant Meliardò. His etymological proposal differs from Rossoni's: he derives the surname from the Greek τῶν Μελιαδῶν, an expression meaning "of the Meliadis", that is, from a pre-existing Greek surname. Rohlfs also observes that the form Meliado, without the accent, may result from the loss of the written accent of Meliadò.