The gens must also have used the praenomen Servius, but no longer used it in historical times, possibly due to its similar sound to the Latin word for slave (servus).
The fact that Structus appears in two of the oldest stirpes of the Servilii, neither of which clearly predates the other, could indicate that persons bearing this surname were ancestral to both great houses.
[8] The Prisci ("antique") were an ancient family of the Servilia gens, and filled the highest offices of the state during the early years of the Republic.
A popular legend related that the name was first given to Gaius Servilius, magister equitum in 439 BC, because he hid the knife with which he slew Spurius Maelius in his armpit (also ala).
Caepio, an onion, belongs to a large class of surnames derived from ordinary objects, while Geminus originally denoted a twin, and was typically given to the younger of two brothers.
In a discussion concerning appearances, Cicero mentions a certain Quintus Servilius Geminus, who was frequently mistaken for his brother, Publius, the consul of 252 BC.