:''This page is about the Latin praenomen. For the 3rd-century usurper, see

Proculus Proculus (died c. 281) was a Roman usurper, one of the "minor pretenders" according to ''Historia Augusta'', who would have taken the purple against Emperor Probus in 280. This is now disputed. Probably Proculus had family connection with the Fr ...

. For any of several saints named Proculus, see Saint Proculus (disambiguation).'' Proculus is a Latin

praenomen The praenomen (; plural: praenomina) was a first name chosen by the parents of a Ancient Rome, 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 ...

, 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 gave rise to the patronymic gentes Proculeia and Procilia, and later became a common

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 ...

. The feminine form is ''Procula''. The name was not regularly abbreviated.

Use

''Proculus'' was an uncommon name, but was occasionally used by both patrician and plebeian families. Those known to have used it included the Betutii, Geganii,

Julii The gens Julia was one of the most prominent patrician families of ancient Rome. From the early decades of the Republic, members of this gens served in the highest offices of the Roman state, beginning with Gaius Julius Iulus, consul in 489 ...

, Sertorii, and

Verginii The gens Verginia or Virginia was a prominent family at ancient Rome, which from an early period was divided into patrician and plebeian branches. The gens was of great antiquity. It frequently filled the highest honors of the state during the ea ...

; and naturally Proculus must once have been used by the ancestors of the gentes Proculeia and Procilia. Other families which later used the name as a cognomen may originally have used it as a praenomen. The scholar

Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BCE) 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 Virgil and Cicero). He is sometimes call ...

described ''Proculus'' as an archaic praenomen, which was no longer in general use by the first century BC. As a cognomen, however, ''Proculus'' was still common, and it became even more so during imperial times.

Origin and meaning

According to Festus, the name ''Proculus'' was originally given to children who were born while their fathers were away. This explanation is also found in Plutarch. Chase believes that this is 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 ...

, and points out that the praenomen appears to be a diminutive of another word, such as ''procus''. The usual translation of this word is "suitor", but Festus also mentions that ''procus'' was an archaic form of ''procer'', a prince. Another possibility is that ''Proculus'' is a diminutive of ''Proca'', the name of one of the kings of

Alba Longa Alba Longa (occasionally written Albalonga in Italian sources) was an ancient Latins (Italic tribe), Latin city in Central Italy in the vicinity of Lake Albano in the Alban Hills. The ancient Romans believed it to be the founder and head of the ...

. In that case, ''Proca'' would also be an ancient praenomen. Of course, it is entirely possible that ''Proca'' is derived from the same root as ''procus'' and ''procer''.

Titus Livius Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

, ''

Ab Urbe Condita ''Ab urbe condita'' (; 'from the founding of Rome, founding of the City'), or (; 'in the year since the city's founding'), abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is ...

'', book I.

Notes

{{Praenomina Ancient Roman praenomina