E. Rossoni and B. Zuanella agree that the surname derives, by means of a Slovenian ethnic suffix, from the place name Podoriehi.

Rossoni derives it from the Slovenian ethnic form with the suffix -szach, the equivalent of "citizen of," from the place name Podoriehi, the Slavic name of an old district of Savorgna (Udine area).

Zuanella specifies, on the other hand, that it is an endemic surname, typical of the village of Matajur/Montemaggiore (municipality of Savogna), from where it emigrated to the neighbouring villages, then to the valley floor and finally to Cividale and the Friulian plain. He clarifies that it is an "ethnic" name that later also became a surname.

It arose with the Slovenian suffix -ščak (-šček in the literary form) from the place name Podoriehi. Podorieščak (Podorieszach in the archaic 18th-century Italian spelling, preserved to this day) designates the inhabitant of Podoriehi or the person originating from this small district of Matajur/Montemaggiore. The other micro-districts are Franzi (where the surname Franz is typical) and the central part called Matajur/Montemaggiore, where the church is located.