E. Rossoni notes that the surname is not very common and presents specific zones of concentration in the Rimini and Ravenna areas, without ruling out secondary nuclei in Veneto and other localities. He derives it from the medieval name Savius.

F. De Laurentiis proposes a different base: the name Savio, which comes from a nickname or appellative formed on the word savio, "wise, prudent, sapient." This term was used during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to designate the members of consultative bodies made up of people of great prestige and authority. De Laurentiis adds that, in the region of Emilia-Romagna, the surname may derive in some cases from the name of the zone adjacent to the Savio torrent, Savioli being its patronymic, with the sense of "inhabitant or native of the valley of the Savio."