The surname presents multiple independent lines of origin (ceppi), arisen in different regions without a direct relation between them. E. Rossoni notes that it is present in a scattered way throughout Italy, with specific zones in Genoa and in Apulia, and an important nucleus in the Messina, Reggio Calabria and Cosenza areas.

F. Miranda broadens this picture and indicates that the surname extends across some 350 Italian communes, with nuclei concentrated in Sicily, Calabria and Apulia, and smaller presences in Lazio, Lombardy, Piedmont, Liguria, Tuscany and Campania. In Sicily, the Messina area concentrates the greatest presence, with communes such as Santa Teresa Riva and Milazzo, besides records in the Catania, Palermo, Trapani and Enna areas.

As to the origin, the authors agree that the surname is linked to the term scarsella or scarcella, which designated a leather bag to carry money and documents, and that it probably alluded to the trade of the first bearer. Miranda adds that it could also derive from the term proper to Apulia scarcella, the name of a typical regional sweet. Rossoni notes that the nucleus of Andria, in the Bari area, probably responds to this same origin. Both authors also mention a possible derivation from place names such as Scarcelli, a locality of the Messina area, and another in the Cosenza area.