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ArchivesAccalia - meaning confusion
Hello all, first time posting here!
One of my friends is named Accalia and she's always been under the impression that her name was Latin for "she-wolf", but recently she was told that this is impossible, seeing as "wolf" in Latin is lupus - no apparent association between the two. So, she started looking round the Internet for clues as to what her name actually means, but no luck. All she could find out was that Accalia is the name of the foster mother of Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome; still no meaning.
All this was a few years ago and by now, she's rather quite frustrated, so I thought I'd try here, see if you lot had any ideas. Anyone ever come across a meaning? Also, she pronounces her name "Ah-kal-ee-a" but was told it should be said "Ah-kay-lee-a". Which is correct?
Thanks very much for any help!
Cheers,
Lucy
One of my friends is named Accalia and she's always been under the impression that her name was Latin for "she-wolf", but recently she was told that this is impossible, seeing as "wolf" in Latin is lupus - no apparent association between the two. So, she started looking round the Internet for clues as to what her name actually means, but no luck. All she could find out was that Accalia is the name of the foster mother of Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome; still no meaning.
All this was a few years ago and by now, she's rather quite frustrated, so I thought I'd try here, see if you lot had any ideas. Anyone ever come across a meaning? Also, she pronounces her name "Ah-kal-ee-a" but was told it should be said "Ah-kay-lee-a". Which is correct?
Thanks very much for any help!
Cheers,
Lucy
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Replies
Romulus and his brother were abandoned by a river as infant's because their parents couldn't afford them. A female wolf found them and carried them to her den. She suckeled them from her and raised them as wolf Cubs. The female wolf's name is Accalia.
In Romes founding stories romulus is very important hence the name rome. Accalia does mean she wolf in Latin but a very specific she wolf.
Before rome was rome the area was a dangerous place filled with pirates/ raiders / and outlaws band together in small tribes. Its very likely that Accalia was a cieftaness whose banner was a wolf.
Romulus United the tribes into one.
In Romes founding stories romulus is very important hence the name rome. Accalia does mean she wolf in Latin but a very specific she wolf.
Before rome was rome the area was a dangerous place filled with pirates/ raiders / and outlaws band together in small tribes. Its very likely that Accalia was a cieftaness whose banner was a wolf.
Romulus United the tribes into one.
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See my post below. Accalia was a festival, not a person
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Hello Lucy,
Accalia is most probably a declension derived from "Acca Larentia" or "Acca Larentina", a mythical goddess of Roman mythology.
She was the husband of Faustulus hence the adoptive mother of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. This still doesn't explain the "she-wolf" part, right?
Well, a local tradition claims that Acca Larentia wasn't a mythical figure nor an adoptive mother but rather a prostitute, called "lupa" by the shepards meaning "she-wolf" (-a being the feminine suffix instead of -us the masculine one) colloquially however this meant "courtesan".
As for the phonetic pronunciation both are fine in English however "ah-KALL-yah" would be more loyal to Latin.
Excuse me for being 15 years late, I was 4 years old at the time you posted the question.
Respectfully,
Andrew
Accalia is most probably a declension derived from "Acca Larentia" or "Acca Larentina", a mythical goddess of Roman mythology.
She was the husband of Faustulus hence the adoptive mother of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. This still doesn't explain the "she-wolf" part, right?
Well, a local tradition claims that Acca Larentia wasn't a mythical figure nor an adoptive mother but rather a prostitute, called "lupa" by the shepards meaning "she-wolf" (-a being the feminine suffix instead of -us the masculine one) colloquially however this meant "courtesan".
As for the phonetic pronunciation both are fine in English however "ah-KALL-yah" would be more loyal to Latin.
Excuse me for being 15 years late, I was 4 years old at the time you posted the question.
Respectfully,
Andrew
1
Accalia - one possible explanation
According to the Liddell & Scott Greek-English Lexicon, "akale" (or akali" is the female version of "akalos" meaning "peaceful, still". If "Accalia" is related to this word (which I have a hunch it might!) then the pronounciation would be "Acca-LEE-ah".
According to the Liddell & Scott Greek-English Lexicon, "akale" (or akali" is the female version of "akalos" meaning "peaceful, still". If "Accalia" is related to this word (which I have a hunch it might!) then the pronounciation would be "Acca-LEE-ah".
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I know this is an old question, but I named my daughter Accalia and have done the research. Accalia was the "human" step mother of Remus and Romules, not the she wolf. She was the human woman that stepped in afterwards.
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The foster mother in some stories is Acca Larentia. John Tahourdin White and Joseph Esmond Riddle's Latin-English Dictionary seems the only source equating Accalia with the Larentalia - a festival possibly in her honor (it is also related to the Lares, local/household gods). White and Riddle trace it to Sanskrit (at the time every European word was traced to Sanskrit, as the oldest record Indo-European language, but this is now recognised as fanciful, like the current trend for amateur linguists to trace every word back to an African language). Acca Larentia is possibly both the she-wolf and the human foster mother, and at the same time neither. She seems first to be a minor Etruscan deity related the the Lares, with a festival still honored in Rome long after Etruscan influence ended. Subsequently as familiarity with the Etruscan traditions declined, new stories were created to explain the name and festival. In one she becomes the foster-mother of Romulus and Remus, in others a patron of the Roman people. Cato, who examined the origins of many Latin words and names, notes that "lupa" (she-wolf) is a colloquial term for a prostitute (more plausible as a nurse for the twins than an actual she-wolf), linking the story of an Acca who was a prostitute with the human foster-mother (Greek and Roman mythology is rife with retconning). So Acca is probably an Etruscan name (a lost isolate language practically indecipherable so far), and Accalia is "a thing/person related to Acca". Only a few unreliable baby-name sites use it as another name of Acca.
This message was edited 2/18/2020, 6:43 PM
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