Cantius

This name derives via the Latin “cantius > cantianus,” meaning “from cantium,” probably a Latin adaptation of an ethnonym of Gallic or Celtiberian origin referring to the city of “Cantium” (Kent), a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west, East Sussex to the southwest, and across the Thames Estuary is the county of Essex. The modern name of Kent is derived from the Brythonic word “Cantus,” from the Celtic “cent,” meaning “rim, border, edge, frontier.” The Cantiaci or Cantii were a Celtic people living in Britain before the Roman conquest and gave their name to a Civitas of Roman Britain. They lived in the area now called Kent, in south-eastern England. Saints Cantius, Cantianus, and Cantianilla are venerated as saints and martyrs by the Christian church. Tradition states that the three were orphaned siblings, and members of a noble Roman family, the Anicii. They were related to Emperor Carinus.