We find a certain loannes in Catania, son of Ustarricwho had been
given a Latin name although his father bore a Gothic one. The father of pope
Pelagius II (579) was called Winigildus. In the epitaph of Dumilda (Rome,
year 531) we read that her son had the classical name of TheodosusThe
conies Gattila gave the Greek name of Agate to his daughter.' In a papyrus
from Ravenna (Tjader P35, year 572) we read that Andreas and Vitalis were
the sons of the late Lucerna: the latter could be a Latin name, though very un¬
usual for a man; he must have been bom during the Ostrogothic period, and
his name adapted to the pattern of Gothic hypocoristic masculine forms
ending in -a.2* When sons have different names from their fathers, it does not
necessarily mean that they were children of mixed marriages, since other
reasons such as political and religious circumstances seem to have been just as
compelling in the name choice.
2.2. Double names
In sixth-century Italy, when many of the Ostrogoths must have been bilingual,
a few persons appear to have had also a Latin or Greek name beside the
Gothic one. For example Ademunt, son of Aderit and brother of Ranilo, was
also called Andreas (qui et Andreas appellatur, Tjader P13, Ravenna A.D.
553). It should be noted that both his names, the traditional Gothic and the
religious one, alliterate with his father’s name Aderit. The Goth Igila, be¬
longing to the Arian clergy of St. Anastasia in Ravenna, had Danihel as a
second name (Ravenna 551, Tjader P34), probably chosen for his Biblical
value, since Daniel was a figure worshipped among the Goths. Religious im¬
plications also lie behind the second name of queen Ereliva, Theoderic’s
mother, who took the name of Eusebia as she turned to orthodoxy.2g The
Ostrogothic princess Ostrogotho, Theoderic’s daughter (480 ca.-522), was
also called Ariagne, a Greek name in honour of Zeno’s wife, the empress
Ariadne under whose protection she initially lived. Her Gothic name on the
other hand celebrates her nation and royal descent. Another pre-eminent figure
that was included in the Arnal dynasty was Theoderic’s son-in-law Eutharicus
Cillica (515-523, consul in 519)25 30 who was given the Roman title of Flavius.
25 +Hic reqviescit loannes fil Vstarric... (sixth Century inscription, CIL X, 7116).
26 Reichert I, 241.
" Milan, 512: Hie reqviescit in pace Agate filia comites Gattilanis... (CIL V 6176;
Rugo V, 33).
s Tjader II, p. 347, thinks he is a Goth. His name could be a re-Latinization of Goth.
lukarn damp, light’, in turn a Latin loan-word (see § 5.).
29 Anonymus Vales. 14.
'(l Amory 1997, p. 456.
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