Meaning & History
Roman nomen gentile which is of uncertain meaning. It might be derived from Latin opella, which is a diminutive of Latin opus "work, labour, accomplishment", and thus the word means something along the lines of "a bit of labour, a small job, a small accomplishment". Another possibility is, that since Opellius is also sometimes found spelled as Opelius, the name could be a corruption of Opilius. Opilius is derived from Latin opilio meaning "shepherd, herdsman, pastor". Yet another possibility is that Opellius is derived from opillus, the latinized form of Oscan upils meaning "fragment". Finally, there is also the possibility that Opellius is a corruption of Ofellus, the latinized form of the rare Oscan praenomen Upfals, of which the meaning is unknown. Known bearers of the name Opellius were Roman Emperor Macrinus (3rd century AD) and his son Diadumenian (3rd century AD).