The gens Verginia or Virginia was a prominent family at ancient Rome, which from an early period was divided into patrician and plebeian branches.
The first of the family who obtained the consulship was Opiter Verginius Tricostus in 502 BC, the seventh year of the Republic.
[3] The early Verginii favored the praenomina Opiter, Proculus, Titus, Aulus, Lucius, and Spurius.
[4][5][6] All of the patrician Verginii bore the cognomen Tricostus, but they were divided into various families with the surnames of Caeliomontanus, Esquilinus, and Rutilus, respectively.
Rutilus is derived from a Latin adjective, meaning "reddish," and was probably acquired because some of the Verginii had red hair.