Tiberius (praenomen)
Encyclopedia
Tiberius is a Latin praenomen
, or personal name
, which was used throughout Roman history. Although not especially common, it was used by both patrician and plebeian families. The feminine form is Tiberia. The name is usually abbreviated Ti., but occasionally Tib.
For most of Roman history, Tiberius was about the twelfth or thirteenth most-common praenomen. It was not used by most families, but was favored by several, including the great patrician houses of the Aemilii, Claudii, and Sempronii. It was probably more widespread amongst the plebeians, and it became more common in imperial times. The name survived the collapse of Roman civil institutions in the 5th and 6th centuries, and continued to be used into modern times.
. It was also associated with the sacred river, the Tiber
is, on the border of Latium and Etruria. A legend recorded by Titus Livius
was that the river, originally known as the Albula in Latin and the Rumon in Etruscan, came to be called Tiberis (Latin) or Thebris (Etruscan) after Tiberinus, the king of Alba Longa
, was drowned in its waters. Tiberinus was afterward regarded as the god of the river. Children named Tiberius may have been named after the river and its patron god. Chase suggested that the same root may have connected the city of Tibur, the Umbrian town of Tifernum, and the mountain and river in Samnium known as Tifernus.
The Etruscan cognate of Tiberius is Thefarie, and an alternative interpretation of the name's origin is that the Latin praenomen was borrowed from Etruscan, or from the Etruscan name of the river. However, if the river was known in Latium by its present name at the time the praenomen was established, then Tiberius would still be regarded as Latin, even if the river's name were based on an Etruscan root instead of a Latin one. In any case, Tiberius was used by families of Latin, Etruscan, and Oscan origin, and was thus already distributed throughout Italy at the earliest times.
Praenomen
The praenomen was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the dies lustricus , the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the birth of a boy...
, or personal name
Given name
A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...
, which was used throughout Roman history. Although not especially common, it was used by both patrician and plebeian families. The feminine form is Tiberia. The name is usually abbreviated Ti., but occasionally Tib.
For most of Roman history, Tiberius was about the twelfth or thirteenth most-common praenomen. It was not used by most families, but was favored by several, including the great patrician houses of the Aemilii, Claudii, and Sempronii. It was probably more widespread amongst the plebeians, and it became more common in imperial times. The name survived the collapse of Roman civil institutions in the 5th and 6th centuries, and continued to be used into modern times.
Origin and Meaning of the Name
The origin of Tiberius was obscure even in Roman times, although popular etymology sometimes connected it with the ancient city of TiburTivoli, Italy
Tivoli , the classical Tibur, is an ancient Italian town in Lazio, about 30 km east-north-east of Rome, at the falls of the Aniene river where it issues from the Sabine hills...
. It was also associated with the sacred river, the Tiber
Tiber
The Tiber is the third-longest river in Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Umbria and Lazio to the Tyrrhenian Sea. It drains a basin estimated at...
is, on the border of Latium and Etruria. A legend recorded by Titus Livius
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
was that the river, originally known as the Albula in Latin and the Rumon in Etruscan, came to be called Tiberis (Latin) or Thebris (Etruscan) after Tiberinus, the king of Alba Longa
Alba Longa
Alba Longa – in Italian sources occasionally written Albalonga – was an ancient city of Latium in central Italy southeast of Rome in the Alban Hills. Founder and head of the Latin League, it was destroyed by Rome around the middle of the 7th century BC. In legend, Romulus and Remus, founders of...
, was drowned in its waters. Tiberinus was afterward regarded as the god of the river. Children named Tiberius may have been named after the river and its patron god. Chase suggested that the same root may have connected the city of Tibur, the Umbrian town of Tifernum, and the mountain and river in Samnium known as Tifernus.
The Etruscan cognate of Tiberius is Thefarie, and an alternative interpretation of the name's origin is that the Latin praenomen was borrowed from Etruscan, or from the Etruscan name of the river. However, if the river was known in Latium by its present name at the time the praenomen was established, then Tiberius would still be regarded as Latin, even if the river's name were based on an Etruscan root instead of a Latin one. In any case, Tiberius was used by families of Latin, Etruscan, and Oscan origin, and was thus already distributed throughout Italy at the earliest times.