F. Miranda proposes that the surname derives from the verb pigolare ('to cheep'), related to the Latin pipilare, formed on the onomatopoeic syllable pi, which imitates the small, sharp and frequent cries of chicks. By figurative extension, pigolare also means 'to complain', referring to one who, lacking nothing, always laments having little and asks for more. According to Miranda, the surname would have arisen as a nickname attributed to a person with that behaviour.

V. Blunda, on the other hand, proposes an alternative etymology of Sicilian base: the surname would come from the dialect word pìgula, which designates the barn owl, a nocturnal bird with a white face that inhabits the bell towers and granaries of the rural Sicilian landscape. As a nickname, it could have been applied to a person who kept late hours or had a fixed gaze, similar to that of the bird.

Both proposals agree in noting a nickname origin, although they differ in the lexical base: Miranda points to an onomatopoeic verb of general use in Italian, while Blunda anchors it in the Sicilian dialect vocabulary. Miranda notes that the surname is found mainly in the Bergamo, Cremona, Milan and Pavia areas, within Lombardy, with a presence also in Sicily —where it is attested in the Enna area, in the municipality of Regalbuto, and in the Catania area—, as well as in Liguria and Piedmont.