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Gaetane, a friend from France, recently asked me about the origin of her name. Here's what I found: Gaetane is the fem. version of Gaetano, a name much more prevalent in Italy meaning "from Gaeta", Gaeta being a seaside resort between Rome and Naples.
The name Gaeta itself has quite a sinister etymology: according to the classical historian Strabon, Gaeta is derived from "Kaiadas", an undergroung pit in Sparta where prisoners, the ill, the handicapped and the old where given an pioneering form of Kevorkian therapy...