Caius

 Caius/Gaius is an Old Latin praenomen, a boy’s given name chosen by his parents, in the Roman Republic’s three-part naming system (known as the Tria Nomina) – comprised of the praenomen, the nomen, and the cognomen – or, in modern-speak, the personal name, the family name, and the nickname).  Like Lucius, Marcus, Octavius and Titus, Gaius was an extremely common given name in Ancient Rome (think: Gaius Julius Caesar).  Caius is a variant spelling, reflecting the early Roman confusion regarding the use of gamma (which they used for both the “g” and “k” sounds, having little use for the Greek kappa).  The origin of Gaius is most likely Etruscan (an extinct Italic language eventually replaced with Latin), so the name’s meaning is not entirely known/certain.  There are some theories, however.  For one, the Late Latin “gaius” was the word for the jay or magpie (as in the chatty, colorful bird), possibly stemming from the ancient praenomen.  Others theorize the word is related to the Proto-Indo-European (prehistoric) root *ghel- meaning “to shine” from which the Latin “gavisus” (glad, rejoicing) finds its hypothetical origin. We like the theory that Gaius means “happy, rejoicing” in keeping with Ancient Rome’s naming system and how other masculine praenomina reflected positive attributes: for example, Faustus (lucky, fortunate) and Lucius (light).  The name Gaius also appears in the Biblical New Testament as a companion of Saint Paul.