The authors agree that this surname originates in a nickname derived from the dialectal word travèrso (in Ligurian travèrsu), meaning "robust, corpulent, broad-shouldered", probably used to designate an ancestor of sturdy build. All point to Liguria, and in particular to the Genoa area, as the region of greatest concentration and rooting of the surname.

E. De Felice broadens the semantic field and indicates that the word appears also in Emilian as travers, and that in regional and old records it could mean "cross-eyed, squinting", "crooked" or "adverse, hostile". For his part, E. Rossoni notes that in the late medieval period the proper name Traversus circulated in Italy, documented in a notarial deed of 1179 in Milan, which suggests that the nickname could have become a surname from a given name already in use.

P. Abrate highlights that the meaning of the nickname had an ironic and jocular nuance. He also notes the presence of the surname in specific zones of Liguria such as Busalla, Ronco Scrivia, Torriglia, Bordighera and La Spezia. P. Regati agrees with De Felice on the Ligurian origin and on the meaning, without adding new information.