The first member of the gens who obtained the consulship was Gnaeus Baebius Tamphilus, in 182 BC.
During the later Republic, the Baebii were frequently connected with the patrician family of the Aemilii.
[1][2] The main praenomina of Baebii during the Republic were Quintus, Gnaeus, Marcus, and Lucius, all of which were common names throughout Roman history.
[1][3] Chase describes their surname as one of considerable curiosity, suggested by some scholars to be of Greek origin, but perhaps an Oscan name sharing a common root with the Tampia gens, who may have been of Sabine origin.
[5] In imperial times, one family of the Baebii settled around Saguntum, the Spanish town over which the Second Punic War had begun.