F. Miranda notes that this is a typically Sicilian surname, practically extinct, and proposes three hypotheses about its origin. The first would derive it from a nickname arisen from the transformation into a surname of the Arabic term tayr al layl, meaning "night bird". The second links it to a jocular nickname equivalent to "idler" or loafer. The third, which Miranda considers the most acceptable, starts from the Sicilian lavuri, a dialectal term that designates wheat, the field sown with wheat and everything related to that crop; in this framework, taglialavore would be the one who cuts the grain, that is, the reaper or the wheat broker. Miranda also mentions the variant Taglialavoro.

V. Blunda agrees on the Sicilian and dialectal origin of the surname, and derives it from the word tàgghia lavùri, with the sense of "reaper". Blunda describes the labour context with greater precision: the verbal compound would allude to the day labourer who cut the crops with a sickle during the summer harvest, and as a surname it would have arisen from an occupational nickname applied to one who devoted themselves to that seasonal agricultural task.

As for the geographical distribution, Miranda indicates that the surname is concentrated in Sicily, with a presence in the Agrigento area —particularly in Ribera and Cianciana—, in the Enna area —in Agira and Regalbuto—, and in the Caltanissetta, Catania —in Riposto— and Messina areas. Outside Sicily, he notes some families established in Tuscany and in Emilia-Romagna.