Tullus (ˈtʊləs or occasionally ˈtʌləs) is a Latin praenomen

Praenomen

The praenomen was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the dies lustricus , the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the birth of a boy...

, or personal name

Given name

A given name, in Western contexts often referred to as a first name, is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name...

, which was used from the earliest times to the end of the Roman Republic

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...

. Although never particularly common, the name gave rise to the patronymic gens Tullia, and it may have been used as a cognomen

Cognomen

The cognomen nōmen "name") was the third name of a citizen of Ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. The cognomen started as a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditary. Hereditary cognomina were used to augment the second name in order to identify a particular branch within...

by families that had formerly used the name. The feminine form is Tulla. The name is not usually abbreviated, but is sometimes found with the abbreviation Tul.

The praenomen Tullus is best known from Tullus Hostilius

Tullus Hostilius

Tullus Hostilius was the legendary third of the Kings of Rome. He succeeded Numa Pompilius, and was succeeded by Ancus Marcius...

, the third king of Rome. Other examples include Attius Tullus, a Volsci

Volsci

The Volsci were an ancient Italic people, well known in the history of the first century of the Roman Republic. They then inhabited the partly hilly, partly marshy district of the south of Latium, bounded by the Aurunci and Samnites on the south, the Hernici on the east, and stretching roughly from...

an leader, in which Tullus is either a cognomen or an inverted praenomen; Tullus Cloelius, a Roman envoy, Tullus Cluvius, mentioned by the orator Marcus Tullius Cicero

Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...

 in the 1st century BC, and a father and son from gens Tullia who lived at Tibur

Tivoli, Italy

Tivoli , the classical Tibur, is an ancient Italian town in Lazio, about 30 km east-north-east of Rome, at the falls of the Aniene river where it issues from the Sabine hills...

. Writing at the time of Cicero, the scholar Marcus Terentius Varro

Marcus Terentius Varro

Marcus Terentius Varro was an ancient Roman scholar and writer. He is sometimes called Varro Reatinus to distinguish him from his younger contemporary Varro Atacinus.-Biography:...

 listed Tullus amongst several praenomina that he considered obsolete, although the foregoing examples show that it was still in limited use.

Origin and meaning

Tullus appears to be a Latin name, as most of the families in which it occurs are of Latin origin, but the name may also have been common to the Oscan and Umbrian languages, as evidenced by the Volscian leader, Attius Tullus. The name seems to have confused some Latin writers, including the historian Titus Livius

Livy

Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...

, who wavered between regarding it as praenomen or cognomen. Livius gives the forms Attius Tullus and Cloelius Tullus (with no praenomen), while Gaius Plinius Secundus

Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...

 gives Tullus Cloelius, which is probably correct.

The meaning of the praenomen is unclear. Chase hypothesizes that it could be derived from an archaic word meaning "people", in which case it might have a similar meaning to the praenomen Publius

Publius (praenomen)

Publius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name. It was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and was very common at all periods of Roman history. It gave rise to the patronymic gens Publilia, and perhaps also gens Publicia. The feminine form is Publia...

, but ultimately he concludes that it is more likely a diminutive of a word meaning "one who supports". This would give it a similar meaning to the possible praenomen Fertor, found in a single inscription of gens Resia, although that may be a mistake for (or variation of) the praenomen Sertor

Sertor (praenomen)

Sertor is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was used during the Roman Republic. It was never common, and is not known to have been used by any prominent families at Rome. It gave rise to the patronymic gens Sertoria. The feminine form was probably Sertora...

.