Tan'ka

This name derives from the Italic (Sabine) and Latin “Tătĭus > Tatianus,” a patronymic derived from the noble imperial Latin “Titius,” meaning “honorable.” 1) Titus Tatius was the name of a king of the Sabines, an Italic tribe living near Rome, presumably from the 8th- to the 1st-century BC. Since the Romans met with the Sabines, Tatio remained in use in Ancient Rome and during the first centuries of Christianity, as well as his diminutive Tatianus and the female form Tatiana. The name then disappeared in Western Europe but remained in the Hellenic world, and later in the Orthodox world, including Russia. It honors Orthodox Saint Tatiana, who was tortured and martyred in the persecutions of Emperor Alexander Severus ~230 in Rome. 2) Saint Tatiana is also considered a patron saint of students. Hence, Tatiana Day is now an official school holiday for students in Russia.