The gens Rufia, occasionally spelled Ruffia, was a minor plebeian family at ancient Rome.
[2] The Rufii used a variety of personal cognomina, which was typical of Roman nomenclature in imperial times.
The only distinct family name seems to have been Festus, joyous or festive, which appears among the Rufii for several centuries.
[3] The nomen Ceionius suggests that some of the Rufii were probably descended from the Ceionii,[4] and acquired the nomen Rufius through a female line, although this is uncertain given the variability of Roman nomenclature under the Empire, in which nomina could be rearranged for political reasons, to emphasize family connections.
Avienus, which appears multiple times among the Rufii from the fourth to the sixth century, was probably acquired in this way; it was the nomen of an obscure plebeian family, while another of the family bore Postumius, the nomen of one of Rome's great patrician houses; it occurs twice more among the Rufii a century later, once in the derivative form Postumianus, although whether the latter were descended from the earlier Postumius is unknown.