Spaggiari is a surname particularly widespread in Emilia in the areas of Parma, Reggio and Modena, in Genoa, Piacenza, Bologna, Mantua, Brescia and Verona. It may derive from a dialectal nickname originating in the term spagiar (a kind of bird with a yellow breast and belly), but it is also possible that it derives from a nickname indicating the trade of straw-separator, perhaps carried out by the ancestors. Another hypothesis holds that the surname Spaggiari is an abbreviated form of Ruspaggiari. The ruspagiarus, a distortion of rispagiarus, was the tax collector, particularly of the ripatico, a medieval tribute that had to be paid to cross a river or to remain on the banks of rivers, lakes and lagoons.

Possible variants identified in Italy

• Spaggiari: typical of the province of Parma (Emilia-Romagna).
• Spagliardi: present in Mantua and other areas of northern Italy.
• Spagliarini: recorded in regions such as Lombardy and Emilia.
• Spallari: less frequent, but present in historical records of northern Italy.