The authors agree in pointing to a Sicilian dialectal origin for this surname, linked to the term vìrga, which designates a thin and resistant rod or branch. E. Rossoni associates it with the trade of shepherd, highlighting the use of that rod to control and guide the flocks. V. Blunda broadens the semantic field: according to him, vìrga designated the flexible rod used both in basketry and to drive livestock, so that the surname could have arisen as a nickname applied to a person of slender and vigorous figure, or else linked to the works of rural basketry.

As for its geographical distribution, Rossoni notes that the surname presents specific zones both in Lombardy and in Sicily, while the form Virga would be typical of centre-western Sicily. Among the illustrious bearers of this surname is the writer Giovanni Verga (1840–1922), author of I Malavoglia.