Numerius (praenomen)

Numerius (/njuːˈmɛri.əs/; Latin pronunciation: [nʊˈmɛrɪ.ʊs]) is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, usually abbreviated N. The name was never especially common, but was used throughout the period of the Roman Republic, and into imperial times. The feminine form is Numeria. The praenomen also gave rise to the patronymic gens Numeria.

Although Numerius was occasionally used by patrician gentes, such as the Furii and the Valerii, the only patrician family to use the name regularly was gens Fabia. Festus relates the story of how Numerius was introduced to the family after a survivor of the battle of the Cremera married a daughter of Numerius Otacilius Maleventanus. The name was used more widely amongst the plebeians and in the countryside, and was relatively common in southern Italy.

Numerius was generally connected with Numeria, the goddess of childbirth, and according to Marcus Terentius Varro was given to children who were born quickly and easily. In the epitome, De Praenominibus ("Concerning Praenomina"), by Julius Paris, Varro is quoted as stating that the feminine form, Numeria, was not a praenomen, but in this instance Paris indicated that he was mistaken. Numeria is found as a praenomen in inscriptions, including the funerary inscription of Numeria Atilia at Praeneste.

Based in part on the story related by Festus, as well as various Oscan inscriptions and the popularity of the name in southern Italy, Chase concludes that Numerius was originally an Oscan praenomen. However, the name was widely used in Latium, and in the archaic form Numasios it is found in a number of Old Latin inscriptions. It may be an example of a praenomen that was shared by both Oscan and Latin.

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