Gaius

Gaius was one of the most common praenomens in ancient Rome, so ordinary that it shortened to the single letter C in inscriptions — Gaius Julius Caesar, Gaius Octavius, Gaius Plinius Secundus. Its root is disputed, possibly connected to gaudere, to rejoice. The name appears in the New Testament as a host of Paul and as a recipient of the third epistle of John, giving it a faint early-Christian halo alongside its imperial one. Two syllables, GUY-us or GAH-yus depending on one's Latin teacher. It reads clean and archaeological, a name for a boy who might grow up writing footnotes or building aqueducts.