Did Paul receive his Roman citizenship from Sergius Paulus?

This text is from a letter written by David Gooding in 2009.

I notice that you relate some speculation to the effect that Saul received Roman citizenship, and with it the name 'Paul', from Sergius Paulus, the governor of Paphos, whom Paul visited on his first missionary journey. I had thought myself that governors had to submit names to the emperor, who then had to decide whether a person should be made a Roman citizen or not. Since Paul had only just arrived in Paphos, and apparently did not spend a lot of time with Sergius, it seems to me difficult to think that Sergius would have had enough time to send the apostle's name to Rome and get a decision from the emperor.

In this connection, you suggest that Paul's reply to Lysias in Acts 22:28, 'I was in fact born a [Roman] citizen', could be translated 'I received citizenship free'. I must confess that I cannot understand how this suggested translation could be got out of the Greek. The Greek verb in the sentence is the verb that means to beget; literally translated, Paul is saying, 'I have been begotten a Roman citizen'. I wonder, therefore, from what source you have picked up the suggestion that it could be translated 'I received citizenship free'.

Yours sincerely in Christ,