A long presence of the Giarelli family is attested in Valle Camonica, Lombardy.
The Giarelli surname was listed among the originari - the ancientest families of a community during the period of the Republic of Venice - in Cimbergo.
The surname is also documented in Ceto, Massa Carrara, Piacenza, France, Honduras, Argentina, and the United States.
In some cases the surname has assumed the mutation in Gerelli or Girelli.
In dialectal form the surname is Giaréi.