Agrippa is a Latin ''

praenomen The ''praenomen'' (; plural: ''praenomina'') was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the bir ...

'', or

personal name A personal name, or full name, in onomastic terminology also known as prosoponym (from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον / ''prósōpon'' - person, and ὄνομα / ''onoma'' - name), is the set of names by which an individual person is kno ...

, which was most common during the early centuries of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

. It was sometimes abbreviated Agr., or occasionally Agripp.; both forms are found in the ''

Fasti Capitolini The ''Fasti Capitolini'', or Capitoline Fasti, are a list of the chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, extending from the early fifth century BC down to the reign of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Together with similar lists found at Rom ...

''. Despite ending in -''a'', it is a masculine name. The feminine form was probably ''Agrippina'', which is also found as a ''

cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; plural ''cognomina''; from ''con-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became here ...

'', or

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

, but no examples of its use as a praenomen have survived. The praenomen Agrippa was regularly used by two patrician '' gentes'', '' gens Furia'' and '' gens Menenia'', who held several consulships during the early Republic. It was also the name of one of the legendary kings of

Alba Longa Alba Longa (occasionally written Albalonga in Italian sources) was an ancient Latin city in Central Italy, 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Rome, in the vicinity of Lake Albano in the Alban Hills. Founder and head of the Latin League, it wa ...

, Agrippa Silvius, whose descendants came to Rome following the destruction of that city during the reign of

Tullus Hostilius Tullus Hostilius (r. 672–640 BC) was the legendary third king of Rome. He succeeded Numa Pompilius and was succeeded by Ancus Marcius. Unlike his predecessor, Tullus was known as a warlike king who according to the Roman Historian Livy, bel ...

. Although the name is not known to have been used as a praenomen in the later Republic and Empire it appeared as a cognomen in several families.

Etymology

Roman scholar

Marcus Terentius Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (; 116–27 BC) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Vergil and Cicero). He is sometimes calle ...

listed Agrippa as one of several archaic ''praenomina'' that had passed out of use by the 1st century BC. At least according to legend, it was used in pre-Roman times, and it appears as a praenomen in the earliest years of the Republic. The meaning of the name is unknown.

Gaius Plinius Secundus Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...

speculated that it was originally used for a child who was born feet-first (a

breech birth A breech birth is when a baby is born bottom first instead of head first, as is normal. Around 3–5% of pregnant women at term (37–40 weeks pregnant) have a breech baby. Due to their higher than average rate of possible complications for the ...

). However, this is probably a

false etymology A false etymology (fake etymology, popular etymology, etymythology, pseudo-etymology, or par(a)etymology) is a popular but false belief about the origin or derivation of a specific word. It is sometimes called a folk etymology, but this is also a ...

. In ''The Origin of Roman Praenomina'', George Davis Chase, following

August Fick Friedrich Conrad August Fick (May 5, 1833, in Petershagen, Germany – March 24, 1916, in Hildesheim or Breslau) was a German philologist. He spent his life chiefly at Göttingen, where he first studied philology under Theodor Benfey; became a ...

's work on

Greek personal name In the modern world, Greeks names are the personal names among people of Greek language and culture generally consist of a given name and a family name. History Ancient Greeks generally had a single name, often qualified with a patronymic, a ...

s, speculated that the name was derived from Greek, and that it entered Latin via contact with

Magna Graecia Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; the ...

. However, Chase notes that the name does not appear in Greek sources, and concludes that the Italians must have changed the stem to conform to the pattern of Italic names.

Later use as cognomen

As a cognomen it was used by several gentes including the

Asinii The gens Asinia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, which rose to prominence during the first century BC. The first member of this gens mentioned in history is Herius Asinius, commander of the Marrucini during the Social War. The Asinii pro ...

, Fonteii, Haterii,

Julii The gens Julia (''gēns Iūlia'', ) was one of the most prominent patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic. The first of the family to obtain t ...

, and

Vipsanii Lucius Vipsanius was the father of the Roman politician and general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, the distinguished Roman woman Vipsania Polla, and another Lucius Vipsanius. Biography The family of Lucius Vipsanius originated in the Italian coun ...

. Each of these families may once have used Agrippa as a praenomen. As a cognomen, the name survived into Imperial times. With the gradual abandonment of the Roman nomenclature system, Agrippa once again became a personal name, surviving into modern times.George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'', vol. VIII (1897)

References

{{Praenomina Ancient Roman praenomina

Etymology

Later use as cognomen

See also

References