The authors agree that the surname derives from the Latin adjective pulverulentus (masculine plural pulverulenti), with the meaning of "dusty" or "powdery." It would have arisen as a nickname linked to some trade that produced dust, exercised by the first bearer of the surname.

E. Rossoni notes that it is typical of the Catania area. F. Miranda broadens this information and specifies that the surname is diffused in Sicily in the Catania, Messina, Syracuse, Palermo, Ragusa and Enna areas, and that specific areas of presence are also found in other regions of northern and central Italy, such as Lombardy, Lazio, Piedmont and Tuscany.