E. De Felice and E. Rossoni agree that the surname, at least in part, may derive from place names of the Salina type.

De Felice specifies that it was formed from salina ("a natural deposit of salt," and also "salt" and, in the past, "salt office"), normally through the place names Salina and Saline, very frequent in Italy (in the provinces of Mantua, Vicenza, Rovigo, Udine, Pisa, Viterbo, Macerata, Reggio Calabria, Trapani, among others). He adds that it may also derive from salinaro, which in Old Italian designated not only one who worked in the salt pans and one who traded in salt, but also the salt official, a public functionary in charge of the control of cooking salt.

Rossoni distinguishes two nuclei: one specific in the region of Lombardy, in the Varese area, with ramifications towards the Milan, Verbania and Novara areas; and another small one in the Messina area. He suggests that the Sicilian nucleus could derive from a place name such as Salina or Santa Marina Salina, both in the province of Messina. The Lombard nucleus, on the other hand, would derive from the Gens Sallia, a Roman family with numerous properties in the Pavia, Novara and Varese areas.