Atilia gens
The gens Atilia, sometimes written Atillia, was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, which rose to prominence at the beginning of the fourth century BC. The first member of this gens to attain the consulship was Marcus Atilius Regulus, in 335 BC. The Atilii continued to hold the highest offices of the state throughout the history of the Republic, and well into imperial times. Origin. Chase classifies the nomen "Atilius" with a small group of gentilicia probably formed from praenomina ending in ' using the suffix ', a morphology common in names of Latin origin. The root might then be  a praenomen "Atius", otherwise unknown, although there was a Sabine praenomen "Attius". Praenomina. The Atilii favored the praenomina "Lucius", "Marcus", and "Gaius", the three most common names throughout Roman history, to which they sometimes added "Aulus" and "Sextus". Under the Empire, some of the Atilii bore the praenomen "Titus". Branches and cognomina. Under the Republic, the cognomina of the Atilii included "Bulbus", "Calatinus", "Luscus", "Priscus", "Regulus", "Nomentanus", and "Serranus". Of these, only "Regulus" and "Serranus" appear to constitute a distinct family, with the Serrani being descended from the Reguli. The only cognomina found on coins are "Saranus", which appears to  be the same as "Serranus", and "Nomentanus". "Luscus", the first surname associated with the Atilii appearing in history, was a common name originally describing someone with poor eyesight, belonging to a large class of cognomina derived from the physical characteristics of individuals. This is the surname as given in Dionysius, although some sources amend it to "Longus", originally referring to someone particularly tall. It has been argued that Lucius Atilius Luscus, one of the first consular tribunes elected in 444 BC, was a patrician, since the first plebeians were elected to that office in 400; and most if not all  of the ancient patrician gentes possessed plebeian branches, which frequently came to eclipse the fame of their patrician forebears. However, the lists of consular tribunes from both 444 and 422 contain names that are otherwise regarded as plebeian, and according to tradition the office was created with the intention that its members should be elected from either order, so in all probability Luscus, like all of the other Atilii, was plebeian. "Priscus", a personal cognomen belonging to one of the early Atilii, usually translates as "elder", and probably served to distinguish its bearer from younger Atilii of his era. "Bulbus , an onion, belongs to a class of surname derived from everyday objects, although the circumstances by which such cognomina were acquired by individuals is seldom known. The name is comparable to Caepio", a cognomen with much the same meaning. The Atilii Reguli were the most illustrious of their gens. The surname "Regulus" is a diminutive of "Rex", a king. This family rose to prominence in the time of the Samnite Wars, and continued down to the interval between the First and Second Punic Wars, at which time it was supplanted by that of "Serranus" or "Saranus". The Atilii Serrani continued  down to the time of Cicero, before fading into obscurity. "Calatinus", also found as "Caiatinus", the surname of Aulus Atilius Calatinus, a hero of the First Punic War, probably refers either to the town of Cales in Campania, or to the neighboring town of Caia. One of the Atilii Reguli had previously obtained the surname "Calenus", in consequence of a battle fought at Cales in 335 BC. Likewise, "Nomentanus", the name of one of the Atilii during the late Republic, is clearly derived from the Nomentum, an ancient city of Latium, although his particular connection with that town is unknown