Of Latin origin.
From the masculine Roman name Octavius.
Derives from Latin word “octavus”, meaning “eighth”.
Octavius was a Latin “praenomen”, Roman equivalent of a first name.
Roman sisters Octavia the Elder and Octavia Minor, known as simply Octavia, were sisters of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus (63 BC – 14 AD).
Octavia was the fourth wife of Marcus Antonius, mostly known as Mark Antony.
Other forms of the name are Octavya, Ottavia, Tavia, Octoviana.
Masculine form of the name is Octavio.
Famous bearers are Octavia Spencer, Octavia E. Butler, Octavia Nasr, Octavia Hill.
Additional information concerning the Ancient Roman naming system:
According to the Roman naming rules, the basic elements of Roman names were three. A “praenomen”, a “nomen”, and a “cognomen”.
A “praenomen” was the first name, indicating the personal name.
A “nomen” was the second name, indicating the ‘gens’ to which the bearer of the name belonged to. Gens, meaning the group of families sharing a common “nomen”.
“Nomen” would stand as the group of loosely connected families claiming common ancestors. “Nomen” were always patrilinear, meaning from the father.
A “cognomen” was the third name and was something like the surname. Cognomina (plural of cognomen) were usually inherited. They were rarely given to the bearer by general consensus by the prominent members of the community.
There were several types of “cognomina”, such as geographical, adoptive, occupational, etc. In very rare cases the “cognomina” could be metronymic, meaning from the mother’s “nomen”.