Gender Masculine
Usage Late Roman
Other Forms FormsTarcisius, Tarkisius, Tarsitius, Tarzisius, Tharcisius
Meaning & History
This name entered the Latin language via Greek Tarsisi. Tarsisi is what the ancient Greek city of Tarsos was called at times; the city's name was the hellenized form of Tarsa, which is what the city's first settlers - the Hittites - called it. The original Hittite meaning is uncertain, though it may have been named after their god Tarku. Additionally, it should be noted that the ancient Greeks also used Tarsisi for an other city. In that case, it was the hellenized form of Semetic Tarshish, which was a city in southern Spain that the Greeks also called Tartessos. A known bearer of the name Tarsicius was Saint Tarsicius, who lived in the 3rd century AD.