Members of this gens are mentioned as early as the fifth century BC, but first to hold the consulship was Publius Silius Nerva, in the time of Augustus.
[6] The main praenomina of the Silii were Aulus, Publius, and Gaius, all of which were common throughout Roman history.
Nerva, originally applied to someone described as "sinewy", was the cognomen of the most prominent family of the Silii, and the only surname of this gens that occurs on coins.
Other surnames of the Silii that did not become hereditary included Bassus, "stout" or "sturdy";[7] Italicus, referring to someone from "Italy", originally describing the region of Bruttium, before it came to describe the rest of the peninsula;[8] and Messala or Messalla, a surname usually associated with the ancient Valeria gens.
This name was derived from the city of Messana in Sicily, which was rescued from a Carthaginian naval blockade by Manius Valerius Maximus during the Second Punic War; the name was passed down to his descendants, perhaps including Marcus Silius Messala.