E. De Felice explains that the surname was formed from the name Pagano, originally a nickname derived from the term pagano. In the Middle Ages, this word generically designated one who did not belong to the Christian religion and, with an ethnic value, could refer both to the various Germanic peoples —in the oldest phase of their presence in Italy— and to the Huns and Hungarians, and above all, until the modern age, to the Arabs and Turks, that is, to the Saracens and the followers of Islam.

R. Brondolo adds that the name Pagano was in fashion in the context of the Crusades, which would explain its diffusion in northern Italy during that period.