Sergio

Sergio is the Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of the old Roman family name Sergius. It is also a popular name in Russia where it’s spelled Sergey or Sergei. The Roman nomen Sergius appears to have originated out of the ancient Etruscan civilization in Italy (present day Tuscany). It is thought to have come from the Latin word “servare” meaning ‘to save, to guard, to keep’ or “servire” meaning ‘to serve’. The name is often thought to translate to ‘servant’ but we believe it’s more closely associated with ‘attendant, guardian’ since nomens were generally reserved for the aristocracy in the old Roman Republic. A nomen was essentially a person’s most important public name during the Republic and early Empire. It was the second name in the three-part naming system established by the first century B.C. It was a patrician family name passed from father to son and usually originated as a nickname, an ethnicity or a geographical location representative of the family. Marcus Sergius was a courageous Roman general in the 3rd century B.C. during the Second Tunic War (against the Carthage foe Hannibal). After losing his hand in battle, Sergius had an iron prosthetic made so he could hold his shield and return to battle. Lucius Sergius Catilina lived in the 1st century B.C. This aristocrat turned demagogue made several attempts to overthrow the republic while Cicero was a consul. His efforts were known as the Catilinian Conspiracies and, while unsuccessful, managed to weaken an already fragile republic. Another Roman statesman, Lucius Sergius Paullus, is mentioned briefly in the Bible (Acts 13:7) as “Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.” This Sergius was converted to Christianity in the first century A.D. only a decade or so after Christ’s death. In Virgil’s Latin epic poem the “Aeneid” written between 29-19 B.C. Sergestus was a friend of Aeneas. While participating in a boat race, Sergestus was subjected to jeering and ridicule after hitting some submerged rocks which disabled his boat. Aeneas still gave his friend a prize for returning the broken vessel, saving all the crew and coming in last place. Sergius was also the name of scores of popes and Christian saints. Like the names Maximus, Julius, and Marcus, Sergio is one of the oldest names still in use more than 2,500 years later.