The nomen
Pontidius belongs to a class of
gentilicia which were originally derived from
cognomina ending in
-idus. However, such names were so common that the ending
-idius came to be regarded as a regular gentile-forming suffix, and was applied in cases where there was no morphological justification. This may have been the case with
Pontidius, which is probably derived from the
Oscan praenomen Pompo or
Pomptus, which also gave rise to several other nomina, including
Pompilius,
Pomponius, and
Pontius.
Pompo was the Oscan cognate of the
Latin praenomen
Quintus, and thus
Pontidius was equivalent to Latin gentes such as
Quinctia and
Quinctilia. ==Members==