E. De Felice notes that this surname is of uncertain interpretation and proposes three possible origins. It could reflect a trade name or a place name of Greek or Modern Greek root, formed with the suffix -âs of collective professional value; or else derive from an old Arabic name formed from izz-bi-Allāh, meaning "power of Allah, of God". Its epicentre and greatest frequency are recorded in Catania, in Sicily. He also documents its presence in Sicily, in the Catania and Messina areas, and links it to the Greek surname Tsapalàs, documented in Athens.

G. Rohlfs considers it of Greek-Byzantine origin and documents its presence in Calabria: in the cities of Catanzaro and Reggio Calabria, in the Cosenza area —in localities such as Pizzo and Sersale— and in the Reggio Calabria area, in places such as Bagnara, Bova Marina and Santo Stefano d'Aspromonte.

E. Rossoni gathers the Greek and Arabic hypotheses already mentioned —derivation from the Greek surname Tsapalàs and from the Arabic izz-bi-Allāh— and adds a third etymological line for the stem rooted in the Salerno area: the possible derivation from the word zappa as an agricultural tool, or from the dialectal term zappale. The oldest documented presence in Campania corresponds to the parish priest don Andrea Zappale, secretary of the bishop of Nicastro in 1682.

P. Durante considers it of Greek origin and links it to the term thapto, meaning "gravedigger".

The surname presents multiple independent stems of origin (ceppi), arisen in different regions without a direct relation between them: the main stem, with the form Zappalà, has its epicentre in eastern Sicily, particularly in the Catania area; the Calabrian stem is distributed among the provinces of Catanzaro, Reggio Calabria and Cosenza; and the Campanian stem, with the form Zappale, is documented in the Salerno area.