It was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gens Spurilia.
Although used by a minority of families, it was favored by many, including the gentes Carvilia, Cassia, Furia, Nautia, Papiria, Postumia, Servilia, and Veturia.
[4][5] Popular etymology, however, connected the name with the phrase, sine patre filius, that is, son without a father, and the explanation that it was given to children born out of wedlock.
This was the opinion of Sextus Pompeius Festus, which is accepted by Chase, perhaps surprisingly considering the unlikelihood of anyone deliberately choosing such a name, or passing it down within a family for many generations.
However, it probably contributed to the decline in the use of the praenomen, and gave rise to the modern adjective spurious.