View source for Roman personal names

From the early years of the third century BCE upper-class male Romans usually had three names, e.g., Gaius Julius [[Caesar]] (101-44 BCE), the general, politician, and writer widely known in English as '[[Julius Caesar]]'; Marcus Tullius [[Cicero]] (106-43 BCE), the orator and writer ('Cicero'); and Publius [[Virgil|Vergilius]] Maro (70-19 BCE), the epic poet ('Virgil').

The first of these three names - in Latin the '''''praenomen''''' (from ''prae'', before, and ''nomen'', name) - was a given name, i.e., the equivalent of a [[forename]] or [[Christian name]] in English personal names.

The second name - in Latin simply the '''''nomen''''', 'name' - was [[adjective|adjectival]] in form and indicated the clan (''gens'') to which the individual belonged. Thus Gaius Julius [[Caesar]] was a member of the ''Julii'', or Julian ''gens'', while Marcus Tullius [[Cicero]] was a member of the ''Tullii'', or Tullian ''gens''. A clan was a group of families linked by their shared name and shared belief in descent from a common ancestor.

The third name - in Latin the '''''cognomen''''' (from ''co''-, together, and ''nomen'', name) - was the name of the family (''domus'') to which the individual belonged.

Very occasionally, an ancient Roman had a fourth name - in Latin the ''agnomen'' (from ''ad''-, in addition to, and ''nomen'', name). This was usually a nickname, conferred in virtue of a distinctive personal characteristic or memorable exploit. The most famous example is that of Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator  (died 203 BCE), who had two ''agnomina'': the first, Verrucosus, (which means 'Warty') is self-explanatory, while the second Cunctator (which means '˜Delayer') was acquired through his dogged insistence on a strategy of delay and refusal to do battle with the Carthaginian army under Hannibal - a strategy which eventually resulted in victory for the Romans. (Fabius' success is celebrated in a well-known [[hexameter]] line by the epic poet [[Ennius]] (239-169 BCE): ''Unus homo nobis cunctando restituit rem'', One man by delaying rescued the situation for us.)

::The correct [[plural]] form in [[Latin]] of '''''nomen''''', and the words formed from it, is '''''nomina''''' (and  '''''praenomina''''', '''''cognomina''''' and '''''agnomina'''''. [[Pedant]]s may at times insist on these forms in English.

Ancient Romans are usually referred to in English either by their ''nomen'' or by their ''cognomen''. Thus [[Caesar]] is referred to by his ''cognomen'', as is [[Cicero]] - though in earlier centuries [[Cicero]] was more commonly known as Tully, i.e., an anglicised form of his ''nomen'' was used; [[Virgil]] too is referred to by an anglicised version of his ''nomen''. There is no rule to tell you what is correct in the particular case: you must simply discover, and follow, the convention.

Women and slaves in ancient Rome normally had a single name. This was followed, if necessary, by the name of the adult male (e.g., father, husband, master) to whose authority they were legally subject.

[[Category:Culture]][[Category:European culture]][[Category:Names]][[Category:Etymology]]