Septimus (praenomen)
Introduction '''Septimus''' () is a Latin ''praenomen'', or personal name. It was never particularly common at Rome, but it gave rise to the patronymic ''gens Septimia''. The feminine form is ''Septima''. The name was not regularly abbreviated.The praenomen Septimus was quite rare at Rome, but it seems to have been more popular in rural Italy. It was certainly used by the ''gentes Marcia'' and ''Modia'', and must have been used by the ancestors of ''gens Septimia''. Chase cites two inscriptions in which it occurs after the ''nomen'' of a woman, in the place usually occupied by the ''cognomen''. However, Septimus is not otherwise attested as a cognomen in either family, suggesting that the order of names was reversed, and that the praenomen was used by the Aebutii and Casperii. To these families, Kajava adds one instance from ''gens Aemilia'' and perhaps one from ''gens Cincia''.
Origin and meaning Septimus is the Latin word for ''seventh'', and the name belongs to the same class as the masculine praenomina ''Quintus, Sextus, Octavius, Nonus'', and ''Decimus'', as well as the feminine names ''Prima, Secunda, Tertia, Quarta, Quinta, Sexta, Octavia, Nona'', and ''Decima''.Originally, the praenomen was probably used for a seventh child, seventh son, or seventh daughter. However, it has also been postulated that such names referred to the month of the year in which a child was born. This explanation does not seem to account for the relative scarcity of ''Septimus, Octavius'', or ''Nonus''; but because parents were generally free to choose any name they wished, irrespective of its meaning, it may have been used for either reason.The Oscan cognate of Septimus is ''Seppius'' or ''Seppiis''. It seems to have been a relatively common praenomen.
See also * Roman naming conventions
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