E. De Stefani documents this surname in Piano d'Arta, a locality where it is attested with spellings such as de Radina and di Radina at least from the 15th century, although it is considered present in the borgo Radina of Piano d'Arta from before the 13th century. In time it became a surname. De Stefani classifies it as a toponymic surname derived from the place called Ràdina, situated on the right bank of the homonymous river, and traces the etymon back to the Celtic word ratis, which means "fern." However, when the pronunciation is Radìna, he proposes to interpret it as a truncated form of the feminine name (Cor)radìna.

E. Rossoni, on the other hand, proposes a different etymology: the surname would derive from the Italianization of the name of the Slovenian villages of Radna, near Ljubljana, considered the probable place of origin of the line. Both authors agree in placing the surname in northern Friuli, specifically in Arta Terme and Tolmezzo, in the Udine area.

De Stefani adds that many members of the family, as was usual among the men of the Carnian families, exercised the trade of the cramârs, that is, Friulian travelling merchants who journeyed to Carinthia, Styria and Bavaria.