The surname Pifferi is of nickname and occupational origin, linked to the musical sphere. On this point E. Rossoni and V. Blunda agree, relating it to the term piffero (fife), a wind instrument used in festive and military contexts.

E. Rossoni notes that the surname may derive from nicknames linked to the trade of musician or to episodes in the life of the ancestor, while V. Blunda highlights its Sicilian dialect form pìffaru and its use as a byname applied to those who played this instrument. In this way, the surname reflects an occupational designation later fixed as a hereditary surname.