"19. Boian.  This name occurs several times, from the tenth century onwards (CS. iii. 369 ¹⁸, ²⁷ Boia on Myletune; 536 ³ Edwig Boga; CD. iv. 261 ¹⁹ Boia ðe ealde; Earle, L.C., 273 ²⁰ Boia decanus; 274 ², ³, ⁶, ⁸ Boia; Hist. Eliensis, pp. 138, 139, Boga de Hemminggeford; Calendar in Cot. Titus D. XXVII, fo. 3, Jan. 3, Obitus fratris nostri Boia ³).  It is of frequent occurrence as the name of moneyers, in the forms Boga, Boia, Bogea, Boge, Boie, Boiga, on coins from Ælfred to Edward the Confessor¹.   The name Maneboia (CS. iii. 371 ²³) also occurs.   Förstemann, Altdeutsches Namenbuch, p. 273, has a few examples of the Old Saxon name Boio (cf. Müllenhoff, Alterthumskunde, ii. 120), and the same form is found as an East Gothic name (cf. Wrede, Sprache der Ostgoten, p. 111).   If these latter, as seems probable, are identical with our Boia, Kögel's derivation of them from *Bawja- (cf. A fd A, xviii. 56, and Z fd A, xxxvii. 273) is impossible²" (Napier & Stevenson).

"108.  Boia is a pun, meaning both a Boian woman, and a kind of collar worn by slaves.  Erg. says Stal. must be a Boian, because he is wedded to a "Boia."  The Boii were a powerful and warlike people of Upper Italy, who had on several occasions caused the Romans much annoyance, especially in the Second Punic War; their complete subjection by Scipio Nasica and incorporation in the province of Gallia Cisalpina (B.C. 191) was an event still fresh in the memory of the audience" (Plautus).