Names in Ancient Rome: Types, Purpose, Origin | Early European History And Religion

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ROMAN NAMES

Caesar's wife

Most Roman citizens had five names. The first three were like a surname, middle name, and last name. The last two usually revealed the person clan or place of origin. In ancient times people generally had only one name, which was given at birth. People with the same name were often differentiated from one another by identifying them as the son of someone (i.e. James, the son of Zeledee in the Bible) or linking them to their birthplace (i.e. Paul of Tarsus, also from the Bible).

The Romans developed surnames to link people with their family members and ancestors. With the fall of the Roman Empire, surnames disappeared until they were reappeared in the late Middle Ages. Romans liked names that began with the letter “C”: Caesar, Cicero, Cato, Claudius, Curio, Clodia, Clatulus, Catilibe, Caelius. C originally had the value of G and retains it in the abbreviations C and Cn. for Gaïus and Gnaeus. When they are Anglicized, these praenomina are often written with the C.

No very satisfactory account of the names of women can be given, because it is impossible to discover any system in the choice and arrangement of those that have come down to us. It may be said that the threefold name for women was unknown in the best days of the Republic; praenomina for women were rare and when used were not abbreviated. More common were the adjectives Maxima and Minor, and the numerals Secunda and Tertia, but these, unlike the corresponding names of men, seem always to have denoted the place of the bearer among a group of sisters. It was more usual for the unmarried woman to be called by her father’s nomen in its feminine form, with the addition of her father’s cognomen in the genitive case, followed later by the letter f (filia) to mark the relationship. An example is Caecilia Metelli. Caesar’s daughter was called Iulia, Cicero’s Tullia. Sometimes a woman used her mother’s nomen after her father’s. The married woman, if she passed into her husband’s “hand” (manus) by the ancient patrician ceremony, originally took his nomen, just as an adopted son took the name of the family into which he passed, but it cannot be shown that the rule was universally or even usually observed. Under the later forms of marriage the wife retained her maiden name. In the time of the Empire we find the threefold name for women in general use, with the same riotous confusion in selection and arrangement as prevailed in the case of the names of men at the same time.” [Source: “The Private Life of the Romans” by Harold Whetstone Johnston, Revised by Mary Johnston, Scott, Foresman and Company (1903, 1932)]

Roman Threefold Name

Nothing is more familiar to the student of Latin than the fact that the Romans whose works he reads first have each a threefold name, Caius Julius Caesar, Marcus Tullius Cicero, Publius Vergilius Maro. This was the system that prevailed in the best days of the Republic, but it was itself a development, starting in earlier times with a more simple form, and ending, under the Empire, in utter confusion. The earliest legends of Rome show us single names, Romulus, Remus, Faustulus; but side by side with these we find also double names, Numa Pompilius, Ancus Martius, Tullus Hostilius. It is possible that single names were the original fashion, but in early inscriptions we find two names, the second of which, in the genitive case, represented the father or the Head of the House: Marcus Marci, Caecilia Metelli. A little later such a genitive was followed by the letter f (for filius or filia) or uxor, to denote the relationship. Later still, but very anciently nevertheless, we find the free-born man in possession of the three names with which we are familiar, the nomen to mark his clan (gens), the cognomen to mark his family, and the praenomen to mark him as an individual. The regular order of the three names is praenomen, nomen, cognomen, although in poetry the order is often changed to adapt the name as a whole to the meter. [Source: “The Private Life of the Romans” by Harold Whetstone Johnston, Revised by Mary Johnston, Scott, Foresman and Company (1903, 1932) |+|]

Marc Antony and Octavian

"Great formality required even more than the three names. In official documents and in the state records it was usual to insert between a man’s nomen and cognomen the praenomina of his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, and sometimes even the name of the tribe in which he was registered as a citizen. So Cicero might have written his name as M. Tullius M. f. M. n. M. pr. Cor. Cicero, that is, Marcus Tullius Cicero, son (filius) of Marcus, grandson (nepos) of Marcus, great-grandson (pronepos) of Marcus, of the tribe Cornelia. |+|

“On the other hand, even the threefold name was too long for ordinary use. Children, slaves, and intimate friends addressed the father, master, friend, and citizen by his praenomen only. Ordinary acquaintances used the cognomen, with the praenomen prefixed for emphatic address. In earnest appeals we find the nomen also used, with sometimes the praenomen or the possessive mi prefixed. When two only of the three names are thus used in familiar intercourse, the order varies. If the praenomen is one of the two, it always stands first, except in the poets, for metrical reasons, and in a few places in prose where the text is uncertain. If the praenomen is omitted, the arrangement varies; the older writers regularly put the cognomen first. Cicero usually follows this practice: cf. Ahala Servilius, (Milo 3,8); contrast C. Servilius Ahala, (Cat. I, 1,3). Caesar puts the nomen first; Horace, Livy, and Tacitus have both arrangements, while Pliny the Younger adheres to Caesar’s usage.” |+|

Praenomen in Roman Names

The number of names in actual use as praenomina seems to us preposterously small as compared with our Christian names, to which they in some measure correspond. It was never much in excess of thirty, and in Sulla’s time had dwindled to eighteen. The following are all that are often found in the authors read in school and in college: Aulus (A), Decimus (D), Gaïus (C),1 Gnaeus (CN),1 Kaeso (K), Lucius (L), Manius (M’), Marcus (M), Publius (P), Quintus (Q), Servius (SER), Sextus (SEX), Spurius (S), Tiberius (TI), and Titus (T). The abbreviations of these names vary: for Aulus we find regularly A, but also AV and AVL; for Sextus we find SEXT and S as well as SEX. Similar variations are found in the case of other praenomina. [Source: “The Private Life of the Romans” by Harold Whetstone Johnston, Revised by Mary Johnston, Scott, Foresman and Company (1903, 1932) |+|]

Crispus, son of Constantine, murdered by Constantine

“But small as this list seems to us, the natural conservatism of the Romans found in it a chance to display itself, and the great families repeated the praenomina of their children from generation to generation in such a way as to make the identification of individuals often very difficult in modern times. Thus the Aemilii contented themselves with seven of these praenomina, Gaïus, Gnaeus, Lucius, Manius, Marcus, Quintus, and Tiberius, but used in addition one that is not found in any other gens, Mamercus (MAM). The Claudii used only six, Gaïus, Decimus, Lucius, Publius, Servius, and Tiberius. A still smaller number sufficed for the Julian gens, Gaïus, Lucius, and Sextus, with the praenomen, Vopiscus, which went out of use in very early times. And even these selections were subject to further limitations. Thus, of the gens Claudia only one branch (stirps), known as the Claudii Nerones, used the praenomina Decimus and Tiberius, and out of the seven praenomina used in the gens Cornelia the branch of Scipios (Cornelii Scipiones) used only Gnaeus, Lucius, and Publius. Even after a praenomen had found a place in a given family, it might be deliberately discarded: the senate decreed that no Antonius should have the praenomen Marcus after the downfall of the famous triumvir, Marcus Antonius. |+|

“From the list of praenomina usual in his family the father gave one to his son on the ninth day after his birth, the dies lustricus. It was a custom then, one that seems natural enough in our own times, for the father to give his own praenomen to his first-born son; Cicero’s name shows the praenomen Marcus four times repeated. When these praenomina were first given, they must have been chosen with due regard to their etymological meaning and have had some relation to the circumstances attending the birth of the child. |+|

“So, Lucius meant originally “born by day,” Manius “born in the morning”; Quintus, Sextus, Decimus, Postumus, etc., indicated the succession in the family; Servius was connected, perhaps, with servare, Gaïus with gaudere. Others are associated with the name of some divinity, as Marcus and Mamercus with Mars, and Tiberius with the river god Tiberis. But these meanings in the course of time were forgotten as completely as we have forgotten the meanings of our Christian names, and even the numerals were employed with no reference to their proper force: Cicero’s only brother was called Quintus. |+|

“The abbreviation of the praenomen was not a matter of mere caprice, as is the writing of initials with us, but was an established custom, indicating, perhaps, Roman citizenship. The praenomen was written out in full only when it was used by itself or when it belonged to a person in one of the lower classes of society. When Roman praenomina are carried over into English, they should always be written out in full and pronounced accordingly. In the same way, when we read a Latin author and find a praenomen abbreviated, the full name should always be pronounced if we read aloud or translate.” |+|

Nomen and Cognomen

“The nomen, the all-important name, is called for greater precision the nomen gentile and the nomen gentilicium. The child inherited it, as one inherits one’s surname now, and there was, therefore, no choice or selection about it. The nomen ended originally in -ius, and this ending was sacredly preserved by the patrician families; the endings -eius, -aius, -aeus, and -eüs are merely variations from it. Other endings point to a non-Latin origin of the gens. Names in -acus (Avidiacus) are Gallic; those in -na (Caecina) are Etruscan; those in -enus or -ienus (Salvidienus) are Umbrian or Picene. [Source: “The Private Life of the Romans” by Harold Whetstone Johnston, Revised by Mary Johnston, Scott, Foresman and Company (1903, 1932) |+|]

Nero

“The nomen belonged by custom to all connected with the gens, to the plebeian as well as the patrician branches, to men, women, clients, and freedmen, without distinction. It was perhaps the natural desire to separate themselves from the more humble bearers of their nomen that led patrician families to use a limited number of praenomina, avoiding those used by their clansmen of inferior social standing. At any rate, it is noticeable that the plebeian families, as soon as political nobility and the busts in their halls gave them a standing above their fellows, showed the same exclusiveness in the selection of names for their children that the patricians had displayed before them. |+|

“Besides the individual name and the name that marked his gens, the Roman had often a third name, called the cognomen, that served to indicate the family or branch of the gens to which he belonged. Almost all the great gentes were thus divided, some of them into numerous branches. The Cornelian gens, for example, included the plebeian Dolabellae, Lentuli, Cethegi, and Cinnae, in addition to the patrician Scipiones, Maluginenses, Rufini, etc. |+|

“From the fact that in the official name the cognomen followed the name of the tribe, it is generally believed that the oldest of the cognomina did not go back beyond the time of the division of the people into tribes. It is also generally believed that the cognomen was originally a nickname, bestowed on account of some personal peculiarity or characteristic, sometimes as a compliment, sometimes in derision. So we find many pointing at physical traits, such as Albus, Barbatus, Cincinnatus, Claudus, Longus (all originally adjectives), and Naso and Capito (nouns: “the man with a nose,” “the man with a head“); others, such as Benignus, Blandus, Cato, Serenus, Severus, refer to the temperament; still others, such as Gallus, Ligus, Sabinus, Siculus, Tuscus, denote origin. These cognomina, it must be remembered, descended from father to son; they would naturally lose their appropriateness as they passed along, until in the course of time their meanings were entirely lost sight of, as were those of the praenomina. |+|

“Under the Republic the patricians had almost without exception this third or family name; we are told of but one man, Caius Marcius, who lacked it. With the plebeians the cognomen was not so common; perhaps its possession was the exception. The great families of the Marii, Mummii, and Sertorii had none, although the plebeian branches of the Cornelian gens, the Tullian gens, and others, did. The cognomen came, therefore, to be prized as an indication of ancient lineage, and individuals whose nobility was new were anxious to acquire one to transmit to their children. Hence many assumed cognomina of their own selection. Some of these were conceded to them by public opinion as their due, as in the case of Cnaeus Pompeius, who took Magnus as his cognomen. Other cognomina were given in derision, as we deride the made-to-order coat of arms of some upstart in our own times. It is probable, however, that only patricians ventured to assume cognomina under the Republic, though under the Empire their possession was hardly more than the badge of freedom.” |+|

Types of Names

Nero and Agrippina, the mother Nero murdered

Besides the three names already described, we find not infrequently, even in Republican times, a fourth or a fifth. These also were called cognomina by a loose extension of the word, until in the fourth century of our era the name agnomina was given them by the grammarians. They may be conveniently considered under four heads. [Source: “The Private Life of the Romans” by Harold Whetstone Johnston, Revised by Mary Johnston, Scott, Foresman and Company (1903, 1932) |+|]

“In the first place, the process that divided the gens into branches might be continued even further. That is, as the gens became extensive enough to throw off a stirps, so the stirps in process of time might throw off a branch of itself, for which there is no better name than the vague familia. This actually happened very frequently: the gens Cornelia, for example, threw off the stirps of the Scipiones, and this in turn the family or “house” of the Nasicae. So we find the fourfold name Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica, in which the last name was probably given very much in the same way as the third had been given before the division took place. |+|

“In the second place, when a man passed from one family to another by adoption, he regularly took the three names of his adoptive father and added his own nomen gentile modified by the suffix -anus. Thus, Lucius Aemilius Paulus, the son of Lucius Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus, was adopted by Publius Cornelius Scipio, and took as his new name Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus. In the same way, when Caius Octavius Caepias was adopted by Caius Julius Caesar, he became Gaïus Iulius Caesar Octavianus, and hence is variously styled “Octavius” and “Octavianus” in the histories. |+|

“In the third place, an additional name, sometimes called cognomen ex virtute, was often given by acclamation to a great statesman or victorious general, and was put after his cognomen. A well-known example is in the name of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus; the title Africanus was given him after his defeat of Hannibal. In the same way, his grandson by adoption, the Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus mentioned above, received the same honorable title after he had destroyed Carthage, and was called Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus. Other examples are Macedonicus, given to Lucius Aemilius Paulus for his defeat of Perseus, and the title Augustus, given by the senate to Octavianus. It is not certainly known whether or not these names passed by inheritance to the descendants of those who originally earned them, but it is probable that the eldest son only was strictly entitled to take his father’s title of honor. |+|

“In the fourth place, the fact that a man had inherited a nickname from his ancestors in the form of a cognomen did not prevent his receiving another from some personal characteristic, especially as the inherited name had often no application, as we have seen, to its later possessor. To some ancient Publius Cornelius was given the nickname Scipio; in the course of time this title was taken by all his descendants, without thought of its appropriateness, and it became a cognomen. Then, to one of these descendants another nickname, Nasica, was given for personal reasons, which in course of time lost its individuality and became the name of a whole family; then, in precisely the same way a member of this family became prominent enough to need a separate name and was called Corculum, his full name being Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum. It is evident that there is no reason why the expansion should not have continued indefinitely. It is also evident that we cannot always distinguish between a mere nickname, one applied merely to an individual and not passing to his descendants, and the additional cognomen that marked the family off from the rest of the stirps to which it belonged.” |+|

Confusion Over Names in Ancient Rome

Commodus, the Roman Emperor in the film Gladiator

A system so elaborate as that described was almost sure to be misunderstood or misapplied, and in the later days of the Republic and under the Empire we find all law and order in names disregarded. Confusion was caused by the misuse of the praenomen. Sometimes two are found in one name, e.g., Publius Aëlius Alienus Archelaus Marcus. The familiar Gaïus must have been a nomen in very ancient times. Like irregularities occur in the use of the nomen. Two in a name were not uncommon, one being derived, perhaps, from the family of the mother; occasionally three or four are used, and fourteen are found in the name of one of the consuls of the year 169 A.D. [Source: “The Private Life of the Romans” by Harold Whetstone Johnston, Revised by Mary Johnston, Scott, Foresman and Company (1903, 1932) |+|]

“By another change, a word might go out of use as a praenomen and appear as a nomen: Cicero’s enemy Lucius Sergius Catilona had for his nomen gentile Sergius, which had once been a praenomen. The cognomen was similarly abused. It ceased to denote the whole family and came to distinguish members of the same family, as the praenomina originally had done: thus the three sons of Marcus Annaeus Seneca, for example, were called, respectively, Marcus Annaeus Novatus, Lucius Annaeus Seneca, and Lucius Annaeus Mela. Again, a name might be arranged differently at different times: in the consular lists we find the same man called Lucius Lucretius Tricipitinus Flavus and Lucius Lucretius Flavus Tricipitinus.”

“There is even greater variation in the names of persons who had passed from one family into another by adoption. Some took the additional name from the cognomen instead of from the nomen. Some used more than one nomen. Finally, it may be noticed that late in the Empire we find a man struggling under the load of forty names.” |+|

Names of Slaves, Freedmen and Citizens

Slaves had no more right to names of their own than they had to other property, but took such as their masters were pleased to give them, and even these did not descend to their children. In the simpler life of early times the slave was called puer, just as the word “boy” was once used in this country for slaves of any age. Until late in the Republic the slave was known only by this name, corrupted to por and affixed to the genitive of his master’s praenomen: Marcipor (Marci puer), “Marcus’s slave,” Olipor (Auli puer), “Aulus’s slave.” When slaves became numerous, this simple form no longer sufficed to distinguish them, and they received individual names. These were usually foreign names, and often denoted the nationality of the slave; sometimes, in mockery perhaps, they were the high-sounding appellations of eastern potentates, such as Afer, Eleutheros, Pharnaces. By this time, too, the word servus had supplanted puer. We find, therefore, that toward the end of the Republic the full name of a slave consisted of his individual name followed by the nomen and praenomen (the order is important) of his master and by the word servus: Pharnaces Egnatii Publii servus. When a slave passed from one master to another, he took the nomen of the new master and added to it the cognomen of the old modified by the suffix -anus: when Anna, the slave of Maecenas, became the property of Livia, she was called Anna Liviae serva Maecenatiana. [Source: “The Private Life of the Romans” by Harold Whetstone Johnston, Revised by Mary Johnston, Scott, Foresman and Company (1903, 1932) |+|]

slave manumission

“The freedman regularly kept the individual name which he had had as a slave, and received the nomen of his master with any praenomen the latter assigned him, the individual name coming last as a sort of cognomen. It happened naturally that the master’s praenomen was often given, especially to a favorite slave. The freedman of a woman took the name of her father, e.g., Marcus Livius Augustae l Ismarus; the letter l stood for libertus, and was inserted in all formal documents. Of course the master might disregard the regular form and give the freedman any name he pleased. Thus, when Cicero manumitted his slaves Tiro and Dionysius, he called the former, in strict accord with custom, Marcus Tullius Tiro, but to the latter he gave his own praenomen and the nomen of his friend Titus Pomponius Atticus, the new name being Marcus Pomponius Dionysius. The individual names (Pharnaces, Dionysius, etc.) were dropped by the descendants of freedmen, who were, with good reason, anxious to hide all traces of their mean descent. |+|

When a foreigner received the right of citizenship, he took a new name, which was arranged on much the same principles as have been explained in the cases of freedmen. His original name was retained as a sort of cognomen, and before it were written the praenomen that suited his fancy and the nomen of the person, always a Roman citizen, to whom he owed his citizenship. The most familiar example is that of the Greek poet Archias, whom Cicero, in the well-known oration, defended; his name was Aulus Licinius Archias, He had long been attached to the family of the Luculli, and, when he was made a citizen, he took as his nomen that of his distinguished patron Lucius Licinius Lucullus; we do not know why he selected the praenomen Aulus. Another example is that of the Gaul mentioned by Caesar (B.G., I, 47), Gaïus Valerius Caburus. He took his name from Caius Valerius Flaccus, the governor of Gaul at the time that he received his citizenship. To this custom of taking the names of governors and generals is due the frequent occurrence of the name “Julius” in Gaul, “Pompeius” in Spain, and “Cornelius” in Sicily.” |+|

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons, The Louvre, The British Museum

Text Sources: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Rome sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Late Antiquity sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; “Outlines of Roman History” by William C. Morey, Ph.D., D.C.L. New York, American Book Company (1901) ; “The Private Life of the Romans” by Harold Whetstone Johnston, Revised by Mary Johnston, Scott, Foresman and Company (1903, 1932); BBC Ancient Rome bbc.co.uk/history/ ; Project Gutenberg gutenberg.org ; Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Live Science, Discover magazine, Archaeology magazine, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, AFP, The New Yorker, Wikipedia, Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopedia.com and various other books, websites and publications.

Last updated October 2024