The authors agree that the surname derives from the personal name Savio or from its Latinized form Savinus, with the meaning of "wise" or "prudent." E. Rossoni further notes the possibility that it is a contraction of Sabinus, that is, "inhabitant of the Sabina," and documents the name in the Diplomatic Code of Medieval Lombardy under the year 1195.

Rossoni places the main nuclei of the surname in the provinces of Parma and Piacenza, and another in Lazio. The variant Savio appears extended throughout northern Italy, with a presence also in the Naples area and in Sicily.

R. Brondolo records the Latin form savius as the direct etymon and contributes a cultural fact proper to the canton of Ticino —the Italian-speaking territory in Switzerland—: a popular saying that ironically distinguishes the savi tòni, "the fools," from the savi matt, "the scatterbrained," playing with the contrast between the literal meaning of the term and its colloquial uses.