The name Juno once appeared in ancient texts as Diuno and Diove, a form scholars linked to Iove or Jove. This connection suggested a shared root meaning youth or vital force. Later researchers proposed the word derived from iuven-, the Latin term for youth found in words like iuvenis. A syncopated form called iūn- appeared in inscriptions alongside iūnix, meaning heifer, and iūnior, meaning younger. Georg Wissowa endorsed this derivation in 1912 after W. Schulze and W. Otto published their findings in 1904 and 1905. The original root *yu- described force as seen in Vedic texts where ắyuh meant vital force. Émile Benveniste connected this root to Greek aion and Latin aevum through a common Indo-European source referring to fertile time. In some inscriptions Jupiter himself bore the name Iuuntus, while another of his epithets was Ioviste, a superlative form of iuuen-. This title meant the youngest, suggesting a deep linguistic bond between the two deities. One of the earliest etymologies associated Juno with iuvare, meaning to aid or benefit. Varro and Cicero also linked her name to iuvenescere, which means rejuvenate. These ancient scholars sometimes connected the goddess to the renewal of the new moon, implying she might have been a moon deity. Plutarch wrote about these connections in his Quaestiones Romanae, section 77.
Epithets And Functions
Juno held a large number of significant and diverse epithets representing various aspects and roles of the goddess. Her central role as a goddess of marriage included titles like Pronuba and Cinxia, meaning she who looses the bride's girdle. Other epithets had wider implications less thematically linked to marriage alone. She appeared as Lucina, reflecting interrelated functions of cyclical renewal and protection of delivery. The ancient called her Covella when helping in the labours of the new moon. At Lanuvium she was known as Sespeis Mater Regina, defining her as sovereign, martial, and fertility goddess. In Tibur and Falerii she was Curitis, the spearholder, an armed protectress. Roman sources recorded her presence at Laurentum, Tibur, Falerii, Veii, Tusculum, and Norba under different names. Five Latin towns named a month after Juno: Aricia, Lanuvium, Laurentum, Praeneste, and Tibur. Outside Latium in Campania she was Populona, increasing the number of people or army. In Umbria at Pisaurum she was Lucina, while Terventum in Samnium honored her as Regina. At Aesernia in Samnium she was Regina Populona. In Rome she was since the most ancient times named Lucina, Mater, and Regina. Some scholars debated whether she was also known as Curitis before the evocatio of the Juno of Falerii. Other epithets used at Rome included Moneta, Caprotina, Tutula, Fluonia, Fluviona, and Februalis. These last ones were associated with rites of purification and fertility of February.