Nymphidia gens
The gens Nymphidia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are not mentioned until imperial times, and none of them are known to have obtained any of the higher offices of the Roman state, although one of them, Gaius Nymphidius Sabinus, attempted to seize the throne following the death of the emperor Nero. Praenomina. As with other families of imperial times, the Nymphidii known to history used only a few praenomina, "Gaius" and "Publius" occurring in ancient writers and inscriptions. "Tryphon", a Greek name appearing in the name of Tryphon Nymphidius Philocalus, was never  a praenomen, although he may have used it in place of one; although unusual, it was not unheard of for freedmen to continue using their original names in place of praenomina, even after obtaining Roman nomina. Since the inscription mentioning him suggests that he was wealthy, it also seems possible that "Tryphon" was part of a longer name, perhaps the surname of one of his ancestors. Origin. The nomen "Nymphidius" is clearly not of Roman origin, being derived from the Greek name "Nymphis", presumably borne by an ancestor of the Nymphidii. The earliest known member of the family was a  freedwoman, Nymphidia, who perhaps was descended from an earlier Nymphis. The nomen falls within a class of gentilicia formed using the suffix "-idius", although in this case because the stem of "Nymphis" is "Nymphid-", rather than because it ended in "-idus". Branches and cognomina. There is no evidence that the Nymphidii were ever divided into distinct branches, but several surnames appear among those members of the family found in ancient writers and inscriptions. "Sabinus", belonging to the most famous of the Nymphidii, and probably one of the earliest, refers to a Sabine, suggesting another possible origin for the gens; "Lupus  means wolf", "Valens" means "strong" or "powerful". "Ogulnianus" signifies that its bearer was either adopted from the Ogulnia gens into some family of the Nymphidii, or that he was descended from the Ogulnii through the female line; "Fuscanius" appears to be a "nomen gentilicium" built on the cognomen "Fuscus", "dark", and probably entered the family through the female line. "Chresimus" and "Philocalus" are Greek names, and probably belonged to freedmen of the Nymphidia gens, who may have passed them to their descendants as surnames.