According to E. De Felice, the surname originates from nicknames and trade names linked to dialectal words of northern Italy such as zavata ("slipper", "badly made shoe") and zavatin (Emilian zavatén), as well as to their equivalents in the south, such as the Sicilian and Calabrian zavattèri. These terms designated the cobbler or one who did low-quality work, and by extension could be applied, in an ironic or derogatory way, to persons who exercised their trade badly. It is, therefore, a surname of occupational origin, with a nuance that in some cases could also be evaluative.

For his part, E. Rossoni agrees on the professional origin of the surname, noting that it would derive —directly or through diminutive or augmentative forms— from dialectal variants of ciabatta or ciabattino, terms likewise related to the trade of shoemaker. This type of formation indicates that the surname would have arisen to identify those who exercised that work. He also documents the early presence of the surname in Italy: it appears in a parish register of Verano Brianza (Milan) in 1627 and in an account of 1678 in Calitri (Avellino), which confirms its diffusion both in the north and in the south of the country. See also Savattèri.