Diocletian, Diocles

Gender: Masculine
Origin: Greek
Meaning “glory of Zeus.”
Διοκλης

It is no surprise that Diocletian’s name should bare a meaning revering one of the gods of Ancient Greece, as it is said that Diocletian was a pious man who adhered to the old ways of the empire. The name itself is a latinized form of the Greek name, Diocles.

In Greek mythology, Diocles was one of the first priests to the goddess Demeter, and he is also credited to be one of the first to learn the Elysian Mysteries.

Due to Emperor Diocletian’s cruel persecution of Christians, his name never caught on after the fall of the Roman Empire, but other forms historically exist. These include: (Please keep in mind that all these forms are very rare and are barely ever used in their home countries outside a history book)

• Diokleciani (Albanian)
• Diokleziano (Basque)
• Dioclecià (Catalan)
• Dioklecijan (Croatian/Serbian/Slovene)
• Dioclétien (French)
• Diocleziano (Italian)
• Diokletian (Dutch/German/Scandinavian)
• Diocletianus (Latin)
• Diokletiāns (Latvian)
• Diokletian (Norwegian)
• Dioklecjan (Polish)
• Diocleţian (Romanian)
• Dioclezzianu (Sicilian)
• Dioklecián (Slovakian)
• Diocleciano (Spanish/Galician/Portuguese)