E. De Felice notes that this surname presents diverse and complex etymons and formative processes. In most cases, the base is constituted by nicknames already medieval —documented from the 13th century in northern Italy and in Tuscany— derived from zucca, both in its proper sense and in the figurative ones of "head" and "person of little intelligence". From this root also arose forms such as zucchétta, zucchétto, zucchino and zuccóne. As for its distribution, the surname appears more frequently in Emilia-Romagna, especially in the variants Zucchelli and Zucchini, while the form Zucca is recorded in the north, in Lazio, in Marche and in southern Sardinia.

F. De Laurentiis agrees that the surname, diffused in northern Italy, derives in most cases from medieval nicknames based on zucca, with the same figurative senses of "head" and "person of little intelligence".

R. Brondolo proposes two possible origins for the form Zucchi, circumscribed to northern Italy. The first alludes to the "bald head", comparable with the surname Toso. The second interprets it as an aphaeretic form of (Maz)zucchi, linked to the dialectal mazüch, meaning "slow, stubborn man".