E. Rossoni places this surname in the Verona area, with a particular presence in Negrar and in the city itself. According to Rossoni, it would derive from the suppression of the first syllable of a modified form of the name Gaspare. As a historical figure associated with this surname, he mentions Tito Speri, born in Brescia in 1825, one of the leaders of the Brescia revolt of 1849 against the Austrian army, known as the Ten Days.

F. De Laurentiis proposes instead a different etymology: he considers it a form typical of Veneto, whose base would be the name Speranza, understood as an auspicious name of Christian devotion. De Laurentiis links it specifically to hope as a theological virtue, that is, the hope of salvation and of blessedness.