Sabine

This name derives from the Latin-speaking ethnic nicknames “Sabinus and Sabina” meaning “of the Sabine tribe.” Sabina, the region in the Sabine Hills of Latium named for the Sabines, is the ancient territory that today is still identified mainly with the North-Eastern Province of Rome and the Province of Rieti, Lazio. In turn derives from the Proto-Italic / Latin-Faliscan and Osco-Umbrian root “Sab- / Saf-,” traced to the Ancient Greek reconstruction of Saphineís / Safineís (Σαφηνείς). 1) Saint Sabina, matron, and martyr from Rome was the widow of Senator Valentinus and daughter of Herod Metallarius. 2) Saint Sabinus of Canosa (Italian: San Sabino) (461–566), venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, was bishop of Canosa di Puglia from 514. 3) Sabellius was a third-century priest and theologian who most likely taught in Rome but may have been a North African from Libya.