P. Durante proposes a Greek origin, from the term naktós, with the meaning "dense".

V. Blunda offers a different interpretation and considers it a Sicilian surname of dialect origin, derived from the word nàccara, which designates a hanging ornament, bead or necklace charm, that is, small decorative elements sewn onto clothing or used as costume jewellery. According to Blunda, its fixing as a surname could have been linked to the trade of the jewellery craftsman or to the nickname of the itinerant seller of these objects.