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ArchivesGaetane - Gaetano
Gaetane, a friend from France, recently asked me about the origin of her name. Here's what I found: Gaetane is the fem. version of Gaetano, a name much more prevalent in Italy meaning "from Gaeta", Gaeta being a seaside resort between Rome and Naples.
The name Gaeta itself has quite a sinister etymology: according to the classical historian Strabon, Gaeta is derived from "Kaiadas", an undergroung pit in Sparta where prisoners, the ill, the handicapped and the old where given an pioneering form of Kevorkian therapy...
The name Gaeta itself has quite a sinister etymology: according to the classical historian Strabon, Gaeta is derived from "Kaiadas", an undergroung pit in Sparta where prisoners, the ill, the handicapped and the old where given an pioneering form of Kevorkian therapy...
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I knew about the name "Gaetano" meaning "from Gaeta" in Italy, but I never knew the origin of the name "Gaeta" before, and wondered about it. I'm now wondering why the Romans would name one of their towns after a pit in Sparta? Interesting!
-- Nanaea
-- Nanaea
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More on Gaetane - Gaetano
Strabo notes that Gaeta was named after the Greek Kaiadas, also meaning "Cavity", due to the many grottos (ahem!) along its rocky coast. Why would Romans use a Greek name? Well, at the risk of sounding chavinistic, southern Italy has been historically Greek for more years than it has been Italian :P
But there also appears an alternative etymology by Virgil, who attributes Gaeta to to Caieta, Aeneas's nurse, who died there.
Strabo notes that Gaeta was named after the Greek Kaiadas, also meaning "Cavity", due to the many grottos (ahem!) along its rocky coast. Why would Romans use a Greek name? Well, at the risk of sounding chavinistic, southern Italy has been historically Greek for more years than it has been Italian :P
But there also appears an alternative etymology by Virgil, who attributes Gaeta to to Caieta, Aeneas's nurse, who died there.
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;)
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Thanks for the background! Yes, I knew about southern Italy having been more Greek than Italian at one time -- and particularly about the Greek colonization of Sicily, with cities there winding up being named "Syracuse" and such.
Although my own tribe was chased into that area of the world probably long after the Greeks had gotten there, we may yet be related somehow, Pavlos. :)
-- Nanaea
Although my own tribe was chased into that area of the world probably long after the Greeks had gotten there, we may yet be related somehow, Pavlos. :)
-- Nanaea
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