Nonia gens
The gens Nonia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Its members first appear in history toward the end of the Republic. The first of the Nonii to obtain the consulship was Lucius Nonius Asprenas in 36 BC. From then until the end of the fourth century, they regularly held the highest offices of the Roman state. Origin. The nomen "Nonius" is a patronymic surname, based on the praenomen "Nonus", presumably belonging to an ancestor of the gens. The name is undoubtedly Latin, although the first of the Nonii to rise to prominence at Rome is said to  have come from Picenum. Another branch of the family seems to have come from Aesernia. Praenomina. The chief praenomina of the Nonii were "Lucius, Marcus", and "Publius", all of which were used by the Nonii Asprenates, while the Quinctiliani used "Lucius" and "Sextus", the latter coming from the Quinctilii, in the maternal line. The Nonii Galli used "Marcus" and "Gaius", while the Macrini used "Marcus" and "Publius". Other praenomina occasionally appear among Nonii whose connection to the main branches of the family, if any, is unknown, including "Aulus, Gnaeus", and "Quintus". "Titus" is given in some sources as the earliest  ancestor of the Asprenates, solely from the filiation of the consul of 36 BC, but this is very uncertain, and the name is not otherwise found among the Nonii. Branches and cognomina. The main surnames of the Nonii were "Asprenas, Balbus, Gallus, Quinctilianus", and "Sufenas", of which only the last two appear on coins. A few of the Nonii occur without surnames. "Asprenas", the name of the most prominent family of the Nonii, and "Sufenas" belong to a class of cognomen apparently derived from the names of towns that can no longer be identified. "Balbus" was a common surname, originally  given to someone with a pronounced stammer, while "Gallus" could signify either a Gaul or a cockerel. The Nonii Asprenates emerge into history in the time of Caesar. They remained prominent through the middle of the second century, and the "Quinctiliani" appear to have constituted a cadet branch of this family. The Nonii Galli were the next family to appear, coming from the town of Aesernia, in the Samnite country, where a Latin colony had been sent at the end of the Third Samnite War. Beginning in the mid-second century there is a family with the surname "Macrinus", a  diminutive of the cognomen "Macro", a Greek name meaning "great" or "large". This family distinguished itself through military and civil service, and evidently obtained patrician rank, as Marcus Nonius Arrius Paulinus Aper was advanced to the office of praetor without having first served as tribune of the plebs.