Agrippa is a Latin ''
praenomen'', or
personal name
A personal name, full name or prosoponym (from Ancient Greek ''prósōpon'' – person, and ''onoma'' –name) is the set of names by which an individual person or animal is known. When taken together as a word-group, they all relate to that on ...
, which was most common during the early centuries of the
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...
. It was sometimes abbreviated Agr., or occasionally Agripp.; both forms are found in the ''
Fasti Capitolini''. Despite ending in -''a'', it is a masculine name. The feminine form was probably ''Agrippina'', which is also found as a ''
cognomen
A ''cognomen'' (; : ''cognomina''; from ''co-'' "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 hereditar ...
'', or
surname
In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...
, 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,
Agrippa Silvius, whose descendants came to Rome following the destruction of that city during the reign of
Tullus Hostilius. 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 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 speculated that it was originally used for a child who was born feet-first (a
breech birth). However, this is probably a
false etymology
A false etymology (fake etymology or pseudo-etymology) is a false theory about the origin or derivation of a specific word or phrase. When a false etymology becomes a popular belief in a cultural/linguistic community, it is a folk etymology (or po ...
.
In ''The Origin of Roman Praenomina'', George Davis Chase, following
August Fick's work on
Greek personal names, speculated that the name was derived from Greek, and that it entered Latin via contact with
Magna Graecia
Magna Graecia refers to the Greek-speaking areas of southern Italy, encompassing the modern Regions of Italy, Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania, and Sicily. These regions were Greek colonisation, extensively settled by G ...
. 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,
Fonteii,
Haterii,
Julii, and
Vipsanii. 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)]
See also
*
List of Roman nomina
*
List of Roman gentes
References
{{Praenomina
Ancient Roman praenomina