The date of Ricimer's birth is unknown. Some scholars have dated it as late as the early 430s, which would have made him unusually young when he rose to power. A birthdate of around 418 is more likely. The names of his parents are also unknown. In his panegyric to Anthemius, given in 468, the poet Sidonius Apollinaris claimed that Ricimer was Suevic on his father's side and Visigothic on his mother's, specifying that his maternal grandfather was Wallia, King of the Visigoths, who died in 418. It has been suggested that his Suevic father may have been a son of Hermeric, the king of the Suevi around 418, or else possibly Hermegarius, a Suevic war leader who died in 429.