The authors agree that this surname has its main rootedness in Sicily and in the Reggio Calabria area (Calabria), although they differ as to its etymology.

E. De Felice derives it from the place name Reitano, a locality in the Messina area, and notes that in some cases it may represent a variant of Riitano, or a crossing with this surname (see Rizzitano). He indicates a high frequency in the Catania area.

F. Miranda proposes instead a mixed etymology: the surname would be composed of the Greek term rigitis (ρηγίτης) and the Latin suffix -anus, comparable with the dialect form riggitano, and would originally designate someone coming from Reggio Calabria. This interpretation, attributed to D. Macris, implies a graphic simplification of the intervocalic g of Greek origin. Miranda also mentions the toponymic derivation proposed by De Felice. In Sicily, the surname appears in almost all the provinces, with a notable presence in the Catania, Messina and Enna areas.