Victoria

This name derives from the Latin root “vincēre > victōria > victŏr,” meaning “conqueror, victory, (one who) conquers.” Victor is a masculine given name that has been used for centuries in numerous cultures and parts of the world. Victoria is a feminine first name. It is also used as a family name and is used as the female form corresponding to Victor. In Ancient Roman Religion, Victoria was the personified goddess of victory. She is the Roman equivalent of the Greek Goddess “Nike,” associated with “Bellona.” She was adapted from the Sabine agricultural Goddess Vacuna and had a temple on the Palatine hill. The Goddess “Vica Pota” was also sometimes identified with Victoria. In Ancient Roman religion, Vica Pota (Vincendi) was a Goddess whose shrine (Aedes) was located at the foot of the Velian Hill, on the site of the Domus of Publius Valerius Publicola. Pope Victor I (died 199) was a bishop of Rome, and hence a pope, in the late 2nd-century.