Sulla

Etymology
. It likely referred originally to a personal physical characteristic, like many Latin cognomina: Quintilian (Institutio Oratoria 1.4.25.3) gives it as an example of a name with this kind of etymology (along with, , , , ). If the vowel was long, the form would be consistent with derivation from (making it equivalent to ); compare  (agnomen and cognomen). An alternative modern proposal is that it comes from  'pork (meat)'. Plutarch interprets Lucius Cornelius Sulla's cognomen as a reference to his facial complexion (although it was already a traditional name in his family).