The authors agree that this surname derives from the Sicilian place name Siracusa (Syracuse). E. De Felice notes that it was formed from that place name and from its demonym siracusano, and that the variant Siragusa presents a high frequency in the Palermo area, extending also towards southern Calabria.

E. Rossoni confirms that both forms —Siracusa and Siragusa— are very diffused in Sicily, and adds that Siracusa presents specific zones also in Bari, Lazio, Tuscany and northern Italy, while Siragusa has them in the Cosenza area, in the Bari area, in the Rome area, in the Latina area and in the north. Rossoni also notes that in some cases these surnames may be of Jewish origin.

F. Miranda offers a broader perspective on the etymological debate. Although he recognizes De Felice's thesis as the most accredited, he considers it very probable that these surnames actually derive from the Aragonese city of Zaragoza, which would have evolved towards the forms Siracusa or Siragusa through intermediate steps such as Zaragossa or Saragossa. The ambiguity between the two theses would be explained because, during the Aragonese kingdom in Sicily, the city of Syracuse was also called "Zaragoza" or "Saragoza"; in fact, in the Sicilian dialect the term Saragusa is still used today both to denominate the city and to refer to the Spanish family Zaragoza, present in Sicily between the 13th and 17th centuries. As to the geographic distribution, Miranda details that the surname Siracusa is widely diffused throughout Sicily, with higher frequencies in the Messina, Palermo, Catania, Agrigento, Caltanissetta, Syracuse and Trapani areas. Outside Sicily, he notes the presence of the surname in Piedmont, Lombardy, Lazio, Apulia, Tuscany and Liguria.