Aulus ( , ) 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 bi ...

'', 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 known ...

, which was common throughout Roman history from the earliest times to the end of the

Western Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period fr ...

in the fifth century. The feminine form is ''Aula''. An alternative pronunciation leads to the variant spellings ''Olus'' or ''Ollus'' and ''Olla''. Aulus was widely used by both patrician and plebeian ''gentes''. The name gave rise to the patronymic ''gens Aulia'', and perhaps also to ''gens Avilia'' and the ''

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 ...

Avitus''. The name was usually abbreviated A., but occasionally Av. or Avl.''Dictionary of Greek & Roman Biography & Mythology''George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'', vol. VIII (1897) For most of Roman history, Aulus was one of the ten most common praenomina, being less common than ''

Titus Titus Caesar Vespasianus ( ; 30 December 39 – 13 September 81 AD) was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death. Before becoming emperor, Titus gained renown as a mili ...

'', the sixth most common praenomen, and comparable in frequency to '' Gnaeus'', '' Spurius'', and ''

Sextus Sextus is an ancient Roman '' praenomen'' or "first name". Its standard abbreviation is Sex., and the feminine form would be Sexta. It is one of the numeral ''praenomina'', like Quintus ("fifth") and Decimus ("tenth"), and means "sixth". Althoug ...

''.

Origin and meaning

The 4th century epitome ''De Praenominibus'' (''Concerning Praenomina'') by Julius Paris derives the name from the verb ''alo'', to nourish. However, Chase argues that in no circumstances could the simple root of ''al-'' be transmuted into ''aul-''. Another popular etymology derived the name from ''aula'' or ''olla'', a palace, perhaps implying nobility, or from its

homonym In linguistics, homonyms are words which are homographs (words that share the same spelling, regardless of pronunciation), or homophones ( equivocal words, that share the same pronunciation, regardless of spelling), or both. Using this definiti ...

, ''aula'' or ''olla'', a pot, presumably an affectionate reference to the size and shape of a healthy baby. Both of these are also probably examples 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 ...

. One of the most common Etruscan praenomina was ''Aule'' or ''Aules'' (also spelled ''Avle'', ''Aveles'', etc.), the Etruscan cognate of Aulus. Deecke argued that the name was originally Etruscan, deriving it from ''avile'', found in the plural form ("years") in numerous funerary inscriptions. The name would then have been brought to Rome during its period of Etruscan domination in the 6th century BC. The reason why ''avile'' should give rise to a personal name is unclear. Deecke also believed that the Latin praenomen ''Spurius'' was of Etruscan origin. Chase felt that this explanation looked too far afield for the source of Roman names, and, supported by Zimmermann, proposed that Aulus was derived from , "little grandfather," a diminutive of . This analogy was based on similar diminutives in other languages, some of them meaning "uncle" (from Latin ''avunculus'').A. Zimmermann, ''Neue Jahrbücher'' (1897)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aulus (Praenomen) Ancient Roman praenomina