E. De Felice explains that the surname derives from the name of Germanic origin Sasso and Sassone, an adaptation of the ethnic, determinative nickname and later personal name, Sahso (in German, Sachse), with the meaning of "Saxon, of Saxony, belonging to the Saxon peoples." The authors agree that these forms are documented in Italy from the 7th century in the more or less Latinized variants Saxo, Saxus and Saxulus, and later Sassus, introduced by Saxon groups that arrived in the Italian peninsula in the retinue of the Lombards.