Publius 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 ...
. It was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and was very common at all periods of Roman history. It gave rise to the patronymic ''
gens Publilia'', and perhaps also ''
gens Publicia''. The feminine form is ''Publia''. The name was regularly abbreviated P.
[''Dictionary of Greek & Roman Biography & Mythology''][''Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft''][Mika Kajava, ''Roman Female Praenomina: Studies in the Nomenclature of Roman Women'' (1994)]
Throughout Roman history, Publius was one of the most frequently-used praenomina, typically occupying fourth or fifth place, behind ''Lucius'', ''Gaius'', and ''Marcus'', and occurring with about the same frequency as ''Quintus''. The feminine form, ''Publia'', was also quite common, and is found in numerous inscriptions as late as the 3rd century, and perhaps beyond.
Origin and meaning of the name
Publius is thought to derive from the same root as ''populus'' and ''publicus'', meaning "the people" or "of the people". Chase provides several examples of similar names from other Indo-European languages. Although Publius is generally regarded as a quintessentially Latin praenomen, a few scholars have proposed an Etruscan origin for the name. This may be partly based on the fact that the name, in the form ''Puplie'', was also used by the Etruscans.
Jacques Heurgon
Jacques Heurgon (25 January 1903 – 27 October 1995) was a French university, normalian, Etruscan scholar and Latinist, professor of Latin language and literature at the Sorbonne. Married to Anne Heurgon-Desjardins, founder in 1952, of the Ce ...
, ''Daily Life of the Etruscans'' (1964)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Publius (Praenomen)
Ancient Roman praenomina