Spurius () 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 used primarily during the period 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 ...
, and which fell into disuse in imperial times. It was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic ''gens Spurilia''. The feminine form is ''Spuria''. The name was originally abbreviated S., as it was the most common praenomen beginning with that letter; but, as it grew less common, it was sometimes abbreviated Sp.
For most of the Roman Republic, Spurius was about the ninth most-common praenomen. Although used by a minority of families, it was favored by many, including the ''gentes Carvilia, Cassia, Furia, Nautia, Papiria, Postumia, Servilia'', and ''Veturia''. It was most common during the early centuries of the Republic, and gradually declined in popularity until it all but disappeared during the 1st century AD.
Origin and meaning of the name
The actual meaning of Spurius is unproven. The name was used by the Etruscans in the form ''Spurie'', and it was used by several Roman families that had Etruscan roots, so it has been postulated that it was either borrowed from the Etruscan language, or was a cognate of an Etruscan word meaning something akin to ''city dweller''.
Popular etymology, however, connected the name with the phrase, ''sine patre filius'', that is, ''son without a father'', and the explanation that it was given to children born out of wedlock. This was the opinion of
Sextus Pompeius Festus
Sextus Pompeius Festus, usually known simply as Festus, was a Roman grammarian who probably flourished in the later 2nd century AD, perhaps at Narbo (Narbonne) in Gaul.
Work
He made a 20-volume epitome of Verrius Flaccus's voluminous and encyclop ...
, which is accepted by Chase, perhaps surprisingly considering the unlikelihood of anyone deliberately choosing such a name, or passing it down within a family for many generations. This explanation is almost certainly wrong, and is an example of
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 ...
. However, it probably contributed to the decline in the use of the praenomen, and gave rise to the modern adjective ''spurious''.
While it cannot be proven that any Latin praenomina were borrowed from Etruscan, and Spurius was used by a number of ''gentes'' of indisputably Latin origin, the explanation that it was connected with a word meaning ''city'' or ''citizen'' appears reasonably likely.
[Wilhelm Deecke, ''Etruskische Forschungen und Studien'']
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spurius (Praenomen)
Ancient Roman praenomina