EFISIO

Italian: typically Sardinian name, borne in honour of a martyr allegedly put to death at Cagliari under the Emperor Diocletian in 303. He is greatly venerated on the island and every 1 May a large festival commemorates his intervention in the plague of 1625; nevertheless, there is no mention of him in any sources before the 15th century. The name is fromLatinEphesius, originally a local name from theGreekcity of Ephesus, where there was a famous temple of Diana in antiquity.