The authors agree that it is a Sicilian surname whose origin is in a dialect form of the name Simone. V. Blunda specifies that it derives from the dialect word scimùni, equivalent to "Simon," and notes that the name has a Hebrew root, diffused in Sicilian onomastics through the Christian devotion to the homonymous apostle. As a surname, Blunda considers that it could have originated as a patronymic applied to the son of some Simon prominent in the community.

E. Rossoni indicates that Scimone and its variants would derive, directly or through hypocoristics, from a dialect modification of that same name. Rossoni notes that Scimone is typically Sicilian and especially diffused in the Messina area. Its variants Scimonelli, infrequent, would be located in the Trapani area, while Scimonello, even rarer, is proper to the far south of Sicily.