The authors agree on the Greek origin of the surname, although they differ in how they interpret the etymological path. E. De Felice considers it a nickname derived directly from the Calabrian tripòdi or tripòdu and from the Sicilian trippòdu, forms taken from Modern Greek tripódi(on), meaning "tripod", especially as a cooking utensil for the hearth. G. Rohlfs agrees in pointing to the Calabrian dialectal tripodi as the immediate base, and adds that in Greece the form Tripodis survives as a surname; he characterises it as a surname of Greek-Byzantine origin, present also in zones of Neapolitan, Lucanian and Sicilian tradition.

E. Rossoni and F. Miranda propose, on the other hand, that the surname derives from the Italianization of the Greek personal name Tripodis, which arose in classical antiquity in the context of the Greek religious cults and later spread to the Greek colonies of southern Italy. Both analyse the constitutive elements: tria ("three") and podi ("foot"), which give rise to two words of strong symbolic charge: tripode, an object supported by three feet that the Greeks offered to their divinities or gave as a prize to the victors of athletic competitions, and over which the Delphic Sibyl pronounced her oracles; and tripudio, a dance in three beats related to the cult of Bacchus and considered of good omen. Rossoni also notes a variant Tripudio, of scarce presence, documented in the Cosenza and Benevento areas.

P. Durante limits himself to indicating that the surname is of Greek origin, meaning "three feet" or "maker of tripods", from treis pus.

As for the geographical distribution, the authors agree in pointing to Calabria as the area of greatest concentration, with special weight in the Reggio Calabria area —Miranda also mentions the Vibo Valentia, Cosenza and Catanzaro areas— and in the localities of Bagnara Calabra, Montebello Ionico, Sant'Eufemia d'Aspromonte and Melito di Porto Salvo, according to Rossoni. Miranda broadens the picture: the surname appears in around five hundred Italian municipalities, mostly Calabrian, with a notable presence in Sicily —in the Messina and Catania areas, and also in the provinces of Agrigento, Palermo, Ragusa and Syracuse— and with nuclei in Lombardy, Lazio, Piedmont, Liguria, Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna and Campania, particularly in the Salerno area. Rohlfs further details the presence in specific zones of Calabria such as Squillace, Siderno and Bova. The sister form Tripodo, according to Rossoni and Rohlfs, is concentrated in the Messina area and in the border area between Reggio Calabria and Messina.