Scarnavack. Italian surnames were often anglicised in the United States.

E. De Felice notes that this surname was formed from an allusive nickname, of the same type as Scornaienchi, derived from the terms scornare and vacca, with an origin in eastern Sicily.

E. Rossoni agrees on the nickname origin and specifies that all the surnames of this lexical family would derive from nicknames attributed to butchers, the probable trade of the family lines of origin. Rossoni identifies two independent lines: one Sicilian, with a presence especially in the Catania area, and another in the Cosenza area. He further notes the variant Scornavacche, of a clearly Sicilian character, whose main line is located in the Enna area and in the Catania area.