The authors agree that this surname derives from the adjective zoppo, "lame", referring to a limp or defect in the gait that functioned as an identifying trait of a person and gave rise to the nickname that later became a surname.

E. De Felice notes that the surname belongs to the category of those formed from nicknames of evident physical motivation, and observes that the form Zoppo predominates in the Naples area.

R. Brondolo frames the surname within the tradition of designating persons by their physical defects, a common practice in ancient times as a means of identification. He adds that the ultimate etymology of the term goes back to a pre-Latin base, which suggests a root prior to the Romanization of the Italian peninsula, with a documented presence in northern Italy.