Yes, Ceredig son of Cunedda Could Have Also Been Called Artorius: Professor Roger Tomlin on Celtic-Latin Hybrid Names

A page from one of the earliest extant copies of Gildas's THE RUIN OF BRITAIN

(http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=cotton_ms_vitellius_a_vi_f001r)

I've recently been criticized for daring to suggest that Ceredig son of Cunedda/Cerdic of the Gewissei might also have borne the Roman/Latin name Artorius (British Arthur).  The line of reasoning of the person who quite strongly remonstrated against this possibility ran as follows:

1) You can't just willy-nilly call someone with a Celtic name after some Roman guy

2) Ceredig might have had a Celtic epithet or cognomen

3) Ceredig could even have had some kind of military title, but any Latin one would doubtless be a translation of a Celtic one

Well, I have addressed several of these points before.  Chief among them being No. 3.  In THE BEAR KING, I showed how easily the ealdorman title given to Cerdic of Wessex (a title translated dux in the Latin version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle) could be rendered by Nennius' 'dux erat bellorum.'  In this case, then, the Latin title is an attempt to render the Anglo-Saxon rank.

No. 2 is all well and fine - and true, in a sense.  We have numerous honorifics and nicknames for Welsh heroes.  One can simply go through P.C. Bartrams's Dictionary and Genealogical Tracts to cull dozens of such examples.  In some cases, a Cymricized Roman name has had a thoroughly Welsh epithet applied to it, e.g. Padarn Beisrudd, Paternus of the Red Cloak, grandfather of Cunedda. But Ceredig son of Cunedda is not represented as having such a sobriquet.  

As for No. 1, that particular claim simply displays a decided level of ignorance.  To get my point across, I wrote to my long-time correspondent, Professor Roger Tomlin.  For the sake of a comprehensive treatment of the subject, here is my initial question, following by his unedited response:

"Hello, Roger,

How common are Roman/Latin-Celtic hybrid names?

I am, as always, focused on Britain.  For example, Gildas mentions an Aurelius Caninus.  While Aurelius may be a carryover from Ambrosius Aurelianus, Welsh scholars are fairly certain 'Caninus' is a pun on or error for Cynan Wledig/Cynan Garwyn, who was the ruler of Powys. If this is correct, then this king had a Roman name - Aurelius - and a British name - Cynan (cf. OIr. Conán < *kunagno- "small dog").

And we find names like the Eternalis Vedomavus on the 6th century Bodvoc Stone of Margam Mountain in Wales.  The Vitalianus Emeritos stone may be using the Latin word as an epithet, or it could be a proper name (see NEVRN/2 in the Celtic Insrcibed Stones Project database). There is the famous example from Dyfed of VOTEPORIGIS PROTICTORIS, where the Latin title is probably a translation of the Irish *votep.  And we have the case of St. Patrick/Patricius, where his British name Magonus may be related to that of the god found in the vicinity of his home at Birdoswald (viz. Mogons; see Koch for the comparison in CELTIC CULTURE: A HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA, p. 1300) or may mean 'servant.' Another of his British names - Succetus/Sucatus/Sochet - means 'swineherd.'  This last appears to be a descriptor of what he did in Ireland after his captivity.  

I was reading through Charles Thomas' AND SHALL THESE MUTE STONES SPEAK?, and came upon his discussion of combined Irish, British and Roman names in Dark Age Dyfed (p. 95).  

"In the first place they depict aspects of Demetia in the sixth century, and are witness to a society of (?) five to ten thousand folk who, four to six generations after Eochaid [of the Deisi], were 'inegrated' and spoke Late British or Beo-Brittanic, with a few people knowing a little Irish and rather more some Latin. Retention of old personal names in families was nothing exceptional, but need bear no relation to ethnic or linguistic origin. An anthropologist might note that, among forty-two memorials, only four mention females 349 Velvoria (filia) and 356 Potentina (mulier), both nom., and 451 Tuncetace (uxsor) with 454 Cuniovende (mater), both gen. - and that three names are British, with Potentina a Roman one. Several memorials show linguistic mixture; Tuncetaca as wife of Daar (British/Irish?), Talor- Advent- (361 as son of Maqverig- (part Roman/Irish), 376 Vennisetli as son of Ercagn(as) (probably British/Irish), 429 Solinus son of Vendon(us) < *Wendagnas (Roman/Irish), and 455 Camulorigi son of Fannuc (British/Irish)."

On Index pp. 349-350, Thomas gives the many "LATIN Words and phrases in the text; the same, used (or also used) in inscriptions (italics), omitting HIC, IACIT, FILI and variants thereof."  Going through that listing is quite enlightening."

I would imagine the same kind of "linguistic mixture" occured in Gwynedd once Cunedda and his sons (or teulu) were established in Gwynedd. 

Certainly, we find many Roman names in the early genealogies of the Welsh princes, and in some cases these names have supplanted British or Irish names found in more trustworthy pedigrees.  For example, the Irish Deisi list for the group who settled in Dyfed, Wales, is entirely Irish.  When we compare that list to the one produced by the Welsh, we find the Irish names have become known Latin names connecting the dynasty to Roman emperors.

I realize you can probably only answer this question from the perspective of the Roman period - but that is fine.  We might be able to cautiously extrapolate a bit into the sub-Roman period immediately following.

"Daniel,

Depends on what you mean by 'hybrid', but my impression is that they are fairly common. Especially if you include what the Germans call Decknamen, names of Latin form which were adopted because they 'concealed' a Celtic name – for example Docilinus and Docilianus, who write curse tablets at Uley and Bath respectively. I think they echo the Celtic name Docca, which is found at Bath, especially because the father of Docilianus is called Brucetus, a Celtic name. Another 'son of Brucetus' is called Sulinus, undoubtedly Celtic.

Soldiers of Celtic origin who gained Roman citizenship on discharge would regularly combine a Latin imperial nomen (Claudius, Flavius, Ulpius, Aelius, etc.) with their own Celtic name. And so of course would their children: I think of someone like Flavia Cunoris, who dedicates a silver statuette to the goddess Senuna in the Ashwell Hoard. Another of the dedicators, incidentally, is called Lucilia Sena: her cognomen is Celtic, her nomen although Latin may well 'conceal' a Celtic louko– name.

'Aurelius' names (like you A. Caninus) might be problematic, as they would tend to be 'late' – people who gained ciitzenship only after the early 3rd-century Constitutio Antoniniana. I also get the impression that 'Iulius' names were valued because they advertised a family which had been Roman citizens for several generations; so they would be interesting to you if they are combined with Celtic names. I am thinking of the Vindolanda prefect Iulius Verecundus, whose cognomen is perfectly Latin, but who is probably a Gallic aristocrat whose cognomen 'conceals' Celtic uero-s.

But I don't know that anyone has quantified all this. The fullest and most explicit catalogue of names from Roman Britain is Andreas Kakoschke, Die Personennamen im römischen Britannien (2011), and you would have to work your way through it."

As I did not have access to Dr. Kakoschke's volume, I decided to approach him with the same query I had submitted to Prof. Tomlin.  Should I hear back from him, I will add what he has to say on the topic to this post.