From the name of the city of Verona, one of the most important historical cities of northern Italy. The meaning of the city's name is uncertain.

E. De Stefani documents this surname from the beginning of the 16th century in Avaglio and Trava —frazioni of Lauco— and in other Friulian localities such as Venzone, all in the province of Udine. He proposes two possible readings: on the one hand, an ethnonymic origin from the name of the city of Verona; on the other, in certain cases, a matronymic origin derived from the old feminine name Veròne, attested in medieval Friulian onomastics. This pattern —surnames formed from feminine names— is documented in Friulian anthroponymy, especially in Alpine zones and in the Carnia, a mountainous region of northern Friuli.

E. Rossoni broadens the picture and notes that both Verona and its derived variants —Veronelli, Veronese and Veronesi— come from the place name Verona or from its demonym. He locates the surname Verona in the Mantua area, the Lucca area and the Cagliari area; Veronelli in the Milan and Como area; Veronese, widely diffused throughout centre-southern Veneto; and Veronesi in a strip extending from Trentino, passing through the Brescia, Verona and Mantua areas, to Reggio Emilia, Modena and Bologna. Rossoni also adds that some of these stems are of Jewish origin.