E. De Felice notes that this is a surname of Jewish origin, formed from an alteration of the place name Marburg, a city of Styria —today Maribor, in Slovenia—, from which a Jewish community was expelled in the 16th century and took refuge at Gradisca, in the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia.

E. Rossoni agrees on the Jewish origin and on the connection with Maribor, but specifies that the surname arose at Trieste as a choice of the direct descendants of Aaron of Marburg, who had emigrated to that city for commercial reasons. Rossoni places the presence of the surname mainly at Trieste, with a presence also at Milan and Rome.