(also Caeso). Uncommon Latin praenomen, perhaps of Etruscan origin, abbreviated K.; according to ancient etymology it indicates a child born by Caesarean section (Liber de praenominibus 6; Fest. 50L; Plin. HN 7,47). Because K. appears among patrician families only in the Fabii and Quinctii, who were the first to hold the priesthood of the luperci, according to Mommsen it may denote the ritual ‘striking’ (caedere) at the festival of the Lupercalia and originally have been the name of a lupercus ( Lupercal).
Bibliography
Salomies, 26f.