Cesare

Although it is not a popular etymology, the name comes undoubtedly from the Latin “cædo > cædĕre,” meaning “kill, slaughter, overthrow, destroy, cut, break.” In turn, the name means “the destroyer, the exterminator.” Caesar, the name of the Gens Iulia, commonly indicates Gaius Julius Caesar. Caesar was a nickname inherited by Augustus, and then given as a title to all the emperors. The name derives from the cognomen of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator. The change from being a familiar name to a title adopted by the Roman Emperors can be dated to about AD 68/69, the so-called “Year of the Four Emperors.” 2) According to another interpretation, however, the name means “born by Caesarean section” (from the Latin’ coesus’). 3) From the Latin “cæsărĭēs > cæsar,” meaning “hairy, hair, a shock of hair, mop (plume of the helmet).” 4) The fourth proposal indicates that the name could derive from the Etruscan “Alsar,” which means “great.”