Members of this gens first appear under the early Empire, when two brothers served as consuls in AD 9.
The consul Gaius Poppaeus Sabinus is said to have come from an undistinguished family, and to have owed his lengthy career more to his competence than his brilliance.
The cognomen Sabinus used by the most prominent branch of the gens suggests that they claimed Sabine ancestry.
[2] The region of Campania where the greatest number of Poppaei are found was associated with the Samnites, an Oscan-speaking people who also claimed Sabine descent.
A single use of the rare praenomen Potitus among the Sabini is also attested, this name was most commonly used by the Valerii (although as a cognomen).