2631: Names from (Ancient) Latin Regions Mar 1, 2022

There are lots of sources of names, whether those will be from religion, animals, plants, or just qualities. Place-names as given-names is common now with newer locations, but we have at least two names from pre-Roman Italic tribes that are names still. The feminine 'Sabine' which is very popular especially in Western Europe is the name of a tribe that lived in Latium, north west of Rome. Likewise, 'Lucas; Luke' is commonly misunderstood to come directly from the Latin word for 'light' (lux, lucas), and that is somewhat true but it comes from a word meaning "man from Lucania". That was an Oscan-Samnium tribe, though the meaning of that group's name is probably from light, as is was in the east of the peninsula, though even this is not certain and it is possible the name was for woods, rather than light at all.