Various speculations have occasionally been made about the origin of the Monastery's name. One connects it to the Roman Emperor Caracalla (188-207), perhaps through some unknown ruin or toponym. In fact, a popular legend, which misled the painter of the cemetery chapel, presents him as the Monastery's founder, adding an ironic hint to the anachronism, since Caracalla was a well-known persecutor of the Christians. Another suggestion that the owner was called Karakalos is made by the Patriarch Philotheos Kokkinos, who had lived on Athos in the 14th century, in his work The Life of St Germanos Maroulis. This name, however, does not occur earlier than the end of the 13th century, when it is known to be the name of the bishop of Nicomedia (1289-1309). Smyrnakis mentions in 1903 that Nikolaos from the village of Karakalla and the family of Karakalla, who was converted to Christianity during the years of Athanasios of Athos, is celebrated as the founder of the Monastery. However, Delouis points out that such a person is not known from any historical source.
