The authors agree that the surname, together with its variants (Picardo, Piccardi, Piccardo, Piccardoni), derives from the medieval name Picardus, in turn formed from the demonym of Picardy, a region in the north of France. It could also derive directly from the French surname Picard or from the surname Piccard, typical of Savoy.

F. Miranda goes deeper into the etymology of the term: the word Piccardia, documented from 1248, derives from picard, that is, piocheur ('digger'), a nickname with which Parisians designated the farmers of the north, beyond the woods of the Senlisis and the Valois. In that northern zone, anyone who did not speak Flemish was called Picard; cities such as Arras, Boulogne, Calais and Tournai were considered 'Picard', and their students formed in Paris and Orléans the so-called 'Picard Nation'.

E. Rossoni supplies medieval testimonies of the name: in Bergamo (13th century) a certain Picardo son of the late Albertino Paneterii appears, as well as a Picardus executed in that city; in the 15th century Marcus Picardus is recorded in Venice and Jacobus Picardus at the court of the Sforza. As to geographic distribution, Rossoni notes that Picardi is concentrated in the Genoa area and in the region of Campania; Piccardi shows areas of presence in Genoa and Savona, with branches in Cagliari, Bergamo and between Florence and Arezzo; Piccardo is typical of Genoa with extensions towards Savona; and Piccardoni, very rare, is proper to the Urbino area.