E. Rossoni proposes that this surname derives from dialect syncopated forms of the name Annibale. Geographically, Rossoni places its presence in the Alessandria area and between the Padua and Rovigo areas. The variant Nibali, by contrast, would have a specifically Sicilian character, with cores at Castell'Umberto, in the Messina area, and in the Catania area —specifically at Randazzo, Maletto and Catania itself—.

F. De Laurentiis goes deeper into the etymology of the base name: Annibale comes from the Latin Hannibale(m), itself of Punic origin. In Phoenician, Hann-ï-Báal means "grace (hann) of (-i-) the god Baal", in reference to the Semitic divinity of the same name.