What would your name be in ancient Rome?

A naming system is needed to identify people in any society, and even in our free times it is subject to certain rules. It was easier for people to decide on the names of their children - rules and traditions greatly narrowed the room for maneuver in this area.

If there was no male heir in the family, the Romans often adopted one of their relatives, who, when entering into an inheritance, took the personal name, family name and cognomen of the adopter, and retained his own surname as an agnomen with the suffix “-an”. For example, the destroyer of Carthage was born Publius Aemilius Paulus, but was adopted by his cousin Publius Cornelius Scipio, whose son and heir died. So Publius Aemilius Paulus became Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus and, after he destroyed Carthage, received the agnomen Africanus the Younger to distinguish himself from his grandfather Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus. Then, after the war in modern Spain, he received another agnomen - Numantine. Gaius Octavius, having been adopted by his grandmother's brother Gaius Julius Caesar and having entered into an inheritance, became Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian, and subsequently also received the agnomen Augustus.

Slave names

The unequal position of slaves was emphasized by the fact that they were addressed by their personal names. If officiality was necessary, after the personal name of the slave, as a rule, the family name of his owner was indicated in the genitive case and with the abbreviation ser or s (from the word serv, i.e. slave) and/or occupation. When selling a slave the nomen or cognomen of its former owner was retained by him with the suffix “-an”.

If a slave was set free, then he received both a pronomen and a nomen - respectively, the names of the one who freed him, and as a cognomen - his personal name or profession. For example, in the trial against Roscius the Younger, his intercessor Marcus Tullius Cicero essentially accused Sulla’s freedman, Lucius Cornelius Chrysogonus. Between the nomen and cognomen of freedmen, the abbreviations l or lib were written from the word libertin (freedman, freed).

As we know, the Romans had many names that were broadcast as a result of either the family they came from or because they possessed characteristics. At some point in Rome, to witness the official name of the fashion is kilkunastoczłonowego. A man with many names and nicknames was respected and seen as someone of high rank.

Building name

Initially, Roman names included only one member. Worth noting are Remus and Romulus. However, this simplicity did not stand the test of time and in the next generation, one can find the names of two people, as evidenced even by the names of the successors of Romulus, Servius Tullius, Noumea Pompiliusza or Ankusa Marcius. Your two people's names were ( personal name) And last name ( gentilicium or ancestral warmth.)
In the Republic there was an appearance in three parts of the structure, adding a nickname. Rimskaya is now a first name, last name and pseudonym ( nickname.) This is what it looks like in reality:

During the Republic, a fourth component became a broadcasting habit, which added a second nickname ( agnomen.) She did, in particular, Publius Cornelius Scipio, The winner of Hannibal's Zamy, who had the right to wear the agnomenu African. A pseudonym for the eldest son by inheritance. Over time, however, this custom disappeared.

In interpersonal relationships that do not use the full name, it is limited to one of its members. Between family and close friends, usually limited personal name. In other circumstances, the Romans converted to another using one cognomena With personal name.

As for the name, their choice was niewielkii it was necessary to use numbers.

However, the most common Roman names were: Aulus, Numerius, Postumus, Publius, Gaius, Gnaeus Quintus, Decima, Servius, Sextus, and Lucius, Titus.

Some names were closely associated with individual families, and as such the name Appius preserved only in the Klaudiuszów family. If someone taints the family name with a shameful act, his name will be forever excluded from this family. Los met this name Lucius Klaudiuszy in the family.

Another member had a maiden name. These names distinguish between two types of names: discontinued S such as Perpern And It was a name of Etruscan origin and also a derivation -As How Patronage ace , There were names of places of origin of the Latyńsko-Roman wrestling.

The last part of the name, or pseudonym, began to be broadcast in the days of the Republic, when families began to grow significantly. Nicknames were initially accepted only by patrician families. The first are nicknames associated with the main activities of the Romans in these times.
Nicknames are very often associated with plants, which only strengthens our belief in the original agricultural character of Roman society. For example, among Cyceronów it took its name from the pea ( Cicer), and Fabiuszy from the bean field ( aba.) However, other nicknames are associated with characteristics of family members, such as Cincinnatus- Curly or Kato- Smart.
Nickname mainly to distinguish between the individual branches belonging to the family. nickname, because, for example, the type of definition ( Barbatus, Claudus), One could also determine the origin of a person ( Gallus Ligus, Sabunus). Sometimes they point to certain personal characteristics, such as Nazo or Capito Or indicate a person’s temperament ( Severus, Benignus.)

Nickname	Translation	Nickname	Translation
Agelatus	never smiles	Longius	remote
Balbin	stutterer	Lukkulus	forests, groves
Brokchus	serrated	Magnus	big
Brutus	silly	Maksim	largest
Kato	smart	Mektator	murderer
Caecilius	blind	Nazyka	nosacz
Cepio	Onion supplier	Nerves	hard
Cincinnatus	curly	Piso	mash
Crassus	thick	Posthumus	heir
Cunctator	slow	Palcher	Beautiful
Flaccus	languid	Rufus	red
Flakkus	with big ears	Ruso	hillbilly
Flavius	Yellow Blondas	Scaevola	left-handed
Galba	stomach	Saturninus	belonging to Saturn
Geta	end of the world	Scaurus	for swollen feet
Gracchus	jackdaw	Strabo	strabismus
Caligula	shoe	Sulla	łydeczka
Kalwus	bald	Verres	pigs (behaviour)
Caracalla	coat	Verrucosus	plamiasty
Carbo	burned to the ground	Varon	bowlegged
Catullus	dog

For women, the question of names was much simpler. Daughters always called their father's patronymic as a woman, for example, Caesar's daughter Julia was named Julia. Sometimes added personal name, Which is usually a figure for example: Tertia(Third), or adjective: Major(For adults) and Minor(Junior group).
Women about to get married do not change their name, and, in addition, adopt their husband’s nickname, for example: Libya Augusta. During the Empire, women often carried double the name of their parents, for example: Emilia Lepida. Often the form was changed by introducing the suffix: -Inna, illa-, -Ulla, for example: Agrippa Ina, Urgulan illa.

The slaves then stopped to serve under their former title. Sometimes the names were replaced by an indication of where the slave was from, for example: Sirus(With Syria). Sometimes they are called boy slaves ( Pu'er) And was learned with the owner's name, such as: Tit Puer.
In the case of freedmen, the situation was somewhat different. Friedman adopted the surname, and often the first name, of the person who freed him. Slave freed woman gets personal name And gentilicium in the liberation of the father, and even those marked to whom he owes his freedom, for example: Marcus Livy, Augustae Libertus.

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Roman (Latin) names

Roman male and female names and their meanings

Male names

Female names

August Augustine Amadeus Amadeus Anton Anufriy (Onufriy) Boniface Benedict Valery Valentine Venedikt Vivian Vikenty Victor Vitaly Hermann Dementy Dominic Donat Ignat (Ignatius) Innocent Hypaty Kapiton Kasyan (Kassian) Claudius Klim (Clement) Concordia Konstantin Constantius Cornil Cornelius Roots Laurel Lavrentiy Leonty Luke Lucian Maksim Maximillian Mark Martin (Martyn) Mercury Modest Ovid Paul Patrick Prov Novel Severin Sergey Silantium Sylvan Sylvester Terenty Theodore Ustin Felix Flavian (Flavius) Flor Florenty Fortunatus Felix Caesar Erast Emil Juvenaly Julian Julius Justin Januarius

Augusta Agnia Agnes Akulina Alevtina Alina Albina Antonina Aurelia Aster Beatrice Bella Benedicta Valentina Valeria Venus Vesta Vida Victoria Vitalina Virginia Virinea Dahlia Gloria Hydrangea Gemma Julia Diana Dominica Blast furnace Iolanta Kaleria Karina Capitolina Claudia Clara Clarice Clementine Concordia Constance Laura Lillian Lily Lola Love Lucien Lucia (Lucia) Margarita Marina Marceline Matron Natalia (Natalia) Nonna Pavel Pavlina (Paulina) Rimma Regina Renata Rose Sabina Silvia Stella Severina Ulyana Ustina Faustina Flora Felicata Felice Cecilia Emilia Juliana Julia Juno Justinia

The meaning of Roman (Roman-Byzantine) names

Roman male names and their meanings

Men's: Augustus (sacred), Anton (Roman family name, in Greek - entering into battle), Valentin (strong man), Valery (strong man), Venedict (blessed), Vincent (victorious), Victor (victor), Vitaly (vital), Dementius (dedicated to the goddess Damia), Donatus (gift), Ignatus (unknown), Innocent (innocent), Hypatius (high consul), Capito (tadpole), Claudius (lame-footed), Clement (indulgent), Constantine (permanent), Cornilus ( horned), Laurel (tree), Laurentius (crowned with a laurel wreath), Leonid (lion cub), Leonty (lion), Maxim (largest), Mark (languid), Martyn (born in March), Modest (modest), Mokey (mockingbird ), Pavel (finger), Prov (test), Prokofy (prosperous), Roman (Roman), Sergei (Roman family name), Sylvester (forest), Felix (lucky), Frol (blooming), Caesar (royal), Juvenal (youthful), Julius (fidgety, curly), Januarius (gatekeeper).

Roman female names and their meanings

Women's: Aglaya (brilliance), Agnessa (lamb), Akulina (eagle), Alevtina (strong woman), Alina (step-brother), Albina (white girl), Beatrice (lucky), Valentina (strong, healthy), Victoria (goddess of victory), Virginia ( virgin), Diana (goddess of the hunt), Kaleria (alluring), Capitolina (named after one of the seven hills of Rome), Claudia (lame), Clementine (indulgent), Margarita (pearl), Marina (sea), Natalia (nee), Regina (queen), Renata (renewed), Ruth (red), Silva (forest).

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The history of the origin of names in Rome took shape over many centuries and is considered quite confusing. Some Roman nominal words were so ancient that their meanings were long forgotten in the classical era. The system, which was finally consolidated and assimilated, was formed only in the 2nd century AD. e, at the peak of the prosperity and power of the Roman Empire.

The Romans took names extremely seriously, and believed that fate lay in them. The people were sure that, having learned the name of a person, the enemy could steal his life with the help of magic. That is why slaves did not have the right to call their master out loud, especially in front of a stranger.

The priests were afraid that having learned what the god was called, ill-wishers could appease him with more generous sacrifices and lure him into their service. At first, slaves did not have nicknames at all, since they were considered the “things” of the owner, and the name of the criminal was considered cursed and was excluded from the dynasty, to which he belonged, for many generations to come.

The text uses terms denoting the components of male names. They consisted of three parts:

• Prenomen– personal name of a man (lat. praenomen).
• Nomen– name of the clan/dynasty/family (lat. nomen).
• Cognomen– Personal nickname/nickname of a person, or a title given for merit or success in any field (lat. cognomen).

Origin and evolution of naming

Early Republic

Since the status of a resident of Rome was determined by the fortune and prestige of her father, girls from noble and wealthy dynasties were highly respected. They were awarded such privileges as appearance at public events and the right to immunity, even by their own husbands. But despite this, Roman women were still deprived of their own names and they did not have a praenomen.

Girls were given the family nomen of the patriarch of the family, sometimes changing the ending to “a\ya” (ia), which emphasized the feminine form when addressed. In fact, the name of a Roman woman simply showed what family she was from. For example, the male family nomen of a parent is Cornelius, all his daughters will be called Cornelia. A girl from the Tullian family, for example, father Marcus Tullius Cicero, will therefore bear the name Tullia. Also popular in the CIS, the name Julia comes from the name of the Roman dynasty and the male nomen - Julius.

A famous example is Gaius Julius Caesar. That is why all the women of the clan bore the same names and differed only in cognomen. If several girls were born in a family, this was not a problem. To distinguish between women of the same family, cognomen were used to determine age. The first and eldest daughter in the family was called Major, which meant “eldest”.

The middle ones were called according to the sequence of their birth, their cognomen meant serial numbers: Secunda (second), Tertia (third), Quarta (fourth), Quinta (fifth) and so on until the youngest. The last born girl bore the nickname Minor. This rule applied both between sisters and among the mothers and grandmothers of this family. For example, the grandmother of the Emilia family is Emilia Major, her daughters are Emilia Secunda and Emilia Tertia, and her granddaughters, respectively, are Emilia Quarta and Emilia Minor.

Representatives of the most influential families of the city, especially the imperial one, had advantages, so they had the honor of proudly wearing the cognomen and agnomen of their fathers. When a Roman woman married, she kept her family name, but always added the nomen or cognomen of her husband to it. That is each name showed whose daughter and wife she was.

For example, Julia, the daughter of Gaius Julius Caesar, became the wife of Gnaeus Pompey the Great and her full name was Julia Pompeia, literally - the young lady is the daughter of Julius and the wife of Pompey, in this case Pompey-nomen husband. Marcus's wife Livia Drusa became famous as Livia Drusilla, here the family nomen are the same, and Drusus is the cognomen, presented in a feminized form.

Late Republic

In late republican times, not only girls of noble dynasties, but also citizens of the middle and lower classes were allowed to proudly bear the title or nickname of their father. Cognomen could be in feminized form. For example, the daughters of Lucius Licinius Crassus were named Licinia Crassa the Elder (Licinia Crassa Major) and Licinia Crassa the Younger (Licinia Crassa Minor). Sempronia Tuditani was the daughter of Sempronius Tuditani.

Imperial Rome

At the dawn of the Roman Empire, the naming system became more diverse and more eccentric. Parents could choose a name, and more than one. Girls were named after their paternal and maternal grandparents, combining the father's family nomen with the mother's name, and also adding the place of origin. Plautia Urgulanilla had a mixture of her father's and grandmother's names, despite the fact that she was the wife of Claudius.

Drusilla, the sister of Claudius, bore her grandfather's cognomen (Drusus) as her name, Livilla was named after her paternal grandmother, Livia, and Theodosius' daughter could easily be called Galla Placidia, partly in honor of her mother. In later generations, the traditional rules became more relaxed, and the names of most Roman women bore little or no resemblance to the names of their parents and relatives.

Claudia's daughters were no longer Claudia Major and Claudia Minor; the parents' decision was to name them Claudia Antonia and Claudia Octavia.

In the Severan dynasty, almost all women had the first name Julia, which was not a generic nomen, and the second names were all different. Subsequently, names with a variety of meanings began to gain popularity, moreover, they were invented and not related to the generic name.

At first, they were used only by rich and noble dynasties to show their privileges and importance; later, the fashion of naming newborn girls beautifully and meaningfully made its way to the middle and lower strata of the population and finally took hold among the ancient Roman people.

Such interesting nicknames as Lucia (sparkling), Poplia (folk), Celia (heaven), Venus (love) and Margherita (pearl) became standard among the Romans and were encountered more and more often. There were also beautiful and noble words for our understanding:

• happiness;
• rich;
• darling;
• flower;
• life;
• lucky;
• free.

So are the strange, controversial and not very positive ones:

• angry;
• lame;
• stone;
• black;
• salt.

Below you can find a list of Latin female names that take their roots from ancient Roman times, and with their meanings:

Roman generic names are famous for their abundance, and therefore are the most difficult to recognize for historians from around the world. Many names used in our century have been transformed or differ at least in the ending, since Latin, the language of ancient Rome, became the ancestor of English and many European languages. The meanings of these names are almost lost these days, but resourceful parents still use them because of their beauty and unusualness.

a. Praenomen

The Romans used a small number of personal names; as a rule, they were of such ancient origin that in the classical era the significance of most of them was forgotten. In inscriptions, personal names were almost always written abbreviated. The most common praenomina:

A, AVL	Aulus, in common parlance there was an archaic form of Olus, so the abbreviation of this name can also be O.
WITH	Gaius, very rarely abbreviated as G.
CN	Gnaeus (archaic form of Gnaivos); very rarely abbreviated as GN. There are forms Naevus, Naeus.
D,DEC	Decimus, archaic Decumos.
L	Lucius, archaic Loucios.
M	Marcus, there is a spelling called Marqus.
P	Publius, archaic Poblios (abbreviation PO).
Q	Quintus, in common parlance Cuntus, there are Quinctus, Quintulus.
SEX	Sextus.
TI, TIB	Tiberius.
T	Titus.

Less commonly used were praenomina:

AR, ARR	Appius. According to legend, this name comes from the Sabine Atta and was brought to Rome by the Claudian family.
TO	Kaeso.
MAM	Mamercus. The name is of Ostic origin, used only in the Emilian family.
	Manius.
N	Numerius, of Ostic origin.
SER	Servius.
S, SP	Spurius, can also be used not as praenomen, but in its original meaning (illegitimate). Praenomen Pupus (boy) was used only in relation to children.

The remaining rare praenomina were usually written in full: Agripra, Ancus, Annius, Aruns, Atta, Cossus, Denter, Eppius, Faustus, Fertor, Herius, Hospolis, Hostus, Lar, Marius, Mesius, Mettus, Minatius, Minius, Nero, Novius, Numa , Opiter, Opiavus, Ovius, Pacvius (Paquius), Paullus, Percennius (Pescennius), Petro, Plancus, Plautus, Pompo, Popidius, Postumus, Primus, Proculus, Retus, Salvius, Secundus, Sertor, Statius, Servius, Tertius, Tirrus , Trebius, Tullus, Turus, Volero, Volusus, Vopiscus.

Often the eldest son received his father's praenomen. In 230 BC. e. this tradition was consolidated by a decree of the Senate, so that the father's praenomen began, as a rule, to pass to the eldest son.

In some clans a limited number of personal names were used. For example, the Cornelius Scipios had only Gnaeus, Lucius and Publius, the Claudius Nero had only Tiberius and Decimus, the Domitius Ahenobarbi had only Gnaeus and Lucius.

The criminal's personal name could be forever excluded from the family to which he belonged; for this reason, the name Lucius was not used in the Claudian family, and the name Mark in the Manlian family. By decree of the Senate, the name Mark was forever excluded from the Antony family after the fall of the triumvir Mark Antony.

b. Nomen

All persons belonging to the same clan had a common generic name, which in the classical era ended in -ius (Caecilius); in republican times the endings -is, -i (Caecilis, Caecili) are also found.

Generic names of non-Roman origin have the following suffixes and endings:

Sabine-Ossian	-enus	Alfenus, Varenus
Umbrian	-as -anas -enas -inas	Maenas Mafenas Asprenas, Maecenas Carrinas, Fulginas
Etruscan	-arna -erna -enna -ina -inna	Mastarna Perperna, Calesterna Sisenna, Tapsenna Caecina, Prastina Spurinna

In inscriptions, family names are usually written in full; Only the names of very famous genera were abbreviated:

Aelius	AEL
Antonius	ANT, ANTON
Aurelius	AVR
Claudius	CL, CLAVD
Flavius	FL, FLA
Iulius	I,IVL
Pompeius	POMP
Valerius	VAL
Ulpius	VLP

Most family names are of such ancient origin that their meaning has been forgotten.

From the 1st century BC e., when the prerequisites for the transition from a republican form of government to autocracy appeared in Rome, those who seized supreme power increasingly began to show a tendency to justify their rights to power by their descent from ancient kings and heroes. Julius Caesar, trying to find some legal and moral justification for his ambitious aspirations, while still a young man, uttered the following words at the funeral of his aunt Julia and his wife Cornelia: “The family of my aunt Julia goes back through her mother to the kings, and through her father to the immortal gods: for from Ancus Marcius come the Marcii Rexes (= kings), whose name her mother bore, and from the goddess Venus comes the Julius family, to which our family belongs (Jupiter - Venus - Aeneas - Yule - the Julius family).That is why our family is vested with inviolability, like kings, who in power are above all people, and in reverence, like gods, to whom even the kings themselves are subject."().

V. Cognomen

The third name, cognomen, was an individual nickname, which was often passed on to descendants and turned into the name of a branch of the clan.

The presence of cognomen is not required. In some plebeian genera (Marii, Antoniev, Octavian, Sertorii, etc.), cognomina, as a rule, were absent.

Since the father's praenomen passed to the eldest son, in order to distinguish the son from the father, it was necessary to use a third name. The inscriptions include Lucius Sergius the First, Quintus Aemilius the Second; in one inscription the grandfather, son and grandson are named Quintus Fulvius Rusticus, Quintus Fulvius Attianus and Quintus Fulvius Carisianus ().

Cognomina arose much later than personal and generic names, so their meaning is clear in most cases.

Cognomina can talk about the origin of the clan (the Fufii moved to Rome from the Campanian town of Cales and therefore had the cognomen Calenus), about memorable events (the cognomen Scaevola “left-handed” appeared in the plebeian clan of the Mucii after in 508 BC. during the war with the Etruscans, Gaius Mucius burned his hand on the fire of a brazier, which shocked the enemies and their king Porsenna), about appearance (Crassus - fat, Laetus - fat, Macer - thin, Celsus - tall, Paullus - short, Rufus - red , Strabo - cross-eyed, Nasica - sharp-nosed, etc.), about character (Severus - cruel, Probus - honest, Lucro - glutton, etc.).

There were cases when one person had two cognomina, the second cognomen was called agnomen.

The appearance of the second cognomen is due in part to the fact that the eldest son often inherited all three of his father's names, and thus there were several people with the same names in one family. For example, the famous orator Marcus Tullius Cicero's father and son were also Marcus Tullius Cicero.

Agnomen was most often a personal nickname if the cognomen was hereditary. For example, Lucius Aemilius Paullus received the nickname Macedonicus for his victory over the Macedonian king Perseus in 168 BC. e. The dictator Sulla himself added agnomen Felix (happy) to his name, so that his full name became Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix. Agnomen Felix changed from a personal nickname to a hereditary one (consul 52 AD Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix).

As a rule, members of ancient and noble families, numbering many branches and cognomina, had agnomina. In such genera, cognomen sometimes almost merged with nomen and was used inseparably with it to name the genus. The famous plebeian family of the Caecilii had an ancient cognomen Metellus, the meaning of which is forgotten. This cognomen seemed to merge with the name of the genus, which became known as Caecilia Metella. Naturally, almost all members of this genus had agnomen.

The patrician family of Cornelii had many branches. One of the members of this family received the nickname Scipio (rod, stick), because he was the guide of his blind father and served him as if instead of a staff (). Cognomen Scipio stuck with his descendants, and over time the Cornelia Scipios took a prominent place in their family and received agnomina. In the 3rd century. BC. Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio received the agnomen Asina (donkey) for bringing a donkey loaded with gold to the Forum as collateral. The nickname Asina passed on to his son Publius (Publius Cornelius Scipio Asina). Another representative of the Cornelian Scipioni received the nickname Nasica (sharp-nosed), which passed on to his descendants and began to serve as the name of the branch of the gens, so that in the Cornelian family, the Scipioni Nazis stood out from the Scipioni branch. Naturally, the Nasica Scipios received a third cognomen as an individual nickname, so that the full name could already consist of five names: Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio, consul of 138 BC; The nickname Serapio (from the Egyptian god Serapis) was given to him by the popular tribune Curiatius for his resemblance to a merchant of sacrificial animals.

Some people had two family names; this was the result of adoption. According to Roman customs, the adopted person accepted the praenomen, nomen and cognomen of the one who adopted him, and retained his family name in a modified form with the suffix -an-, which took the place of the second cognomen.

Gaius Octavius, the future emperor Augustus, after his adoption by Gaius Julius Caesar received the name Gaius Iulius Caesar Octavianus.

d. Full name of a Roman citizen in inscriptions

In the inscriptions, as a rule, after the personal and family name, the personal name of the father is indicated, less often - the grandfather and great-grandfather, with the addition of the following words, written abbreviated:

F, FIL	filius	son
N, N.E.P.	nepos	grandson
PRO, PRON, PRONEP	pronepos	great-grandson
ABN, ABNEP	abnepos	great-great-grandson
ADN, ADNEP	adnepos	great-great-great-grandson

For example, the name of the consul of 42 BC. e. in the inscription it looks like this:
L(ucius) Munatius, L(ucii) f(ilius), L(ucii) n(epos), L(ucii) pron(epos), Plancus. .

"Lucius Munatius Plancus, son of Lucius, grandson of Lucius, great-grandson of Lucius..."

In rare cases, the father's praenomen comes after the cognomen or is absent altogether.

With the full name of a Roman citizen, the tribe (the region of Rome and the surrounding lands) to which he is assigned can be indicated:
L(ucius) Caecilius, L(ucii) f(ilius), Pap(iria tribu), Optatus. .

The names of the tribes have the following abbreviations in their inscriptions (urban tribes are marked with an asterisk, all others are rural):

Aemilia	AEM, AEMI, AEMIL, AEMILI
Aniensis	AN, ANI, ANIE, ANIES, ANIEN, ANIENS, ANN, ANNI
Arnensis (Arniensis)	AR, ARN, ARNE, ARNEN, ARNENS, ARNI, ARNIEN, ARNN?, HARN
Camilla	CAM, CAMIL
Claudia	C, CL, CLA, CLAV, CLAVD
Clustumina	CL, CLV, CLVS, CLVST, CRV, CRVST
*Collina	COL, COLL, COLLIN
Cornelia	COR, CORN, CORNEL
*Esquilina	ESQ, ESQVIL
Fabia	F.A.B.
Falerna	F, FAL, FALE, FALL
Galeria	G, GA?, G A?, GAL, CAL, GALER
Horatia	H, HOR, ORA, ORAT
Lemonia	LEM, LEMO, LEMON
Maecia	MAE, MAEC, MAI, ME, MEC, MI
Menenia	MEN, MENE, MENEN
Oufentina	OF, OFE, OFEN, OFENT, OFFENT, OFENTIN, OFF, OVF, OVFF, OVFENT, VFEN
*Palatina	PA, PAL, PALAT, PALATIN
Papiria	P, PA, PAP, PAPER, PAPI, PAPIR
Pollia	P, POL, POLL, POLI, POLLI
Pomptina	POM, POMEN, POMENT, POMI, POMP, POMPT, POMPTIN, POMT, PONT
Publilia (Poplilia, Poblilia)	PO, ROV, POP, PVB, PVBL, PVBLI, PVBLIL
Pupinia (Popinia)	PVP, PVPI, PVPIN, POPIN
Quirina	Q, QV, QVI, QVIR, QVIRI, QVIRIN, QR, QVR, QIR, CYR, CYRIN
Romilia	ROM, ROMIL, ROMVL
Sabatina	SAB, SABATI, SABATIN
Scaptia	SCA, SCAP, SCAPT, SCAPTINS, SCAT
Sergia	SER, SERG, SR
Stellatina	ST, STE, STEL, STELLA, STELL, STELLAT, STL
*Suburana (Sucusana)	SVB, SVC
Teretina	TER, TERET, TERETIN
Tromentina	T, TR, TRO, TROM, TROMEN, TROMETIN
Velina	VE, VEL, VELL, VELIN, VIL
Voltinia	V, VOL. VOLT, VOLTI, VOLTIN, VL, VLT, VVLTIN
Voturia	VOT, VET

The city where the person mentioned in the inscription is from is rarely indicated:

C(= Gaius) Cornelius, C(= Gaii) f(ilius), Pom(ptina tribu), Dert(ona), Verus. .

“Gaius Cornelius Verus, son of Gaius, from the Pomptine tribe, originally from Dertona...” (Dertona - modern Tortona - a city of the Ligurians in Northern Italy).

B. Women's names

In late republican and imperial times, women did not have personal names, but were called by family names. Since all women in one clan had the same name, within the clan they differed in age. For example, Iulia Maior (= eldest), Iulia Secunda (= second), Iulia Tertia (= third) and so on until the youngest (Iulia Minor).

Noble women could bear their father's cognomen in addition to their clan name; for example, Sulla's wife was the daughter of Lucius Caecilius Metella Dalmatica and was called Caecilia Metella, the wife of Emperor Augustus was the daughter of Marcus Livius Drusus Claudian and was called Livia Drusilla.

In inscriptions with the names of women, the praenomen and cognomen of the father are sometimes indicated, as well as the cognomen of the husband in the genitive case: Caeciliae, Q(uinti) Cretici f(iliae), Metellae, Crassi (uxori). "Caecilia Metella, daughter of Quintus Creticus, (wife of) Crassus."

From the inscription it follows that this woman was the daughter of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus and the wife of Crassus. The inscription is made on a large round mausoleum near Rome on the Appian Way, in which Caecilia Metella, daughter of the consul of 69 BC, wife of Crassus, presumably the eldest son of the triumvir Marcus Licinius Crassus, is buried.

2. Names of slaves

In ancient times, slaves did not have individual names. Legally, slaves were considered children of the master and had the same rights as all members of the family. This is how archaic slave names were formed, composed of the praenomen of the master, the father of the surname, and the words puer (boy, son): Gaipor, Lucipor, Marcipor, Publipor,. Quintipor, Naepor (Gnaeus = Naeos + puer), Olipor (Olos - archaic form of praenomen Aulus).

With the rise of slavery, the need for personal names for slaves arose.

Most often, slaves retained the name they bore when they still lived as free people.

Very often, Roman slaves had names of Greek origin: Alexander, Antigonus, Hippocrates, Diadumen, Museum, Felodespot, Philocalus, Philonicus, Eros, etc. Greek names were sometimes given to barbarian slaves.

The slave's name could indicate his origin or place of birth: Dacus - Dacian, Corinthus - Corinthian; found in the inscriptions are slaves with the name Peregrinus - foreigner.

Instead of a name, a slave could have the nickname “First”, “Second”, “Third”.

It is known that the slave lot in Rome was very difficult, but this did not in any way affect the names of slaves who do not have mocking nicknames. On the contrary, among slaves the names Felix and Faustus (happy) are found. Obviously, these nicknames, which became names, were received only by those slaves whose lives were relatively successful. The inscriptions mention: Faustus, the baker of Tiberius Germanicus, and Faustus, the manager of the perfume shop of his master Popilius, Felix, who was in charge of the jewelry of Gaius Caesar, another Felix, the manager of the estates of Tiberius Caesar, and another Felix, an overseer in the wool weaving workshops of Messalina; the daughters of one slave from the house of Caesars were called Fortunata and Felitsa.

The name Ingenus or Ingenuus (freeborn) is often found among slaves.

Slaves born into slavery have the names Vitalio and Vitalis (tenacious).

There were no hard and fast rules regarding slave names. Therefore, when buying a slave in an official document, his name was accompanied by the clause “or by whatever other name he may be called” (sive is quo alio nomine est). For example: “Maxim, son of Baton, bought a girl named Passia, or whatever other name she was called, about six years old, having received in excess of the contract...” ().

In the inscriptions after the name of the slave, the name of the master in the genitive case and the nature of the slave’s occupation are indicated. After the name of the master there is the word servus (slave), always abbreviated SER, very rarely S. The word “slave” is often completely absent; as a rule, slaves owned by women do not have it. SER can stand between two cognomina lord; There is no strict word order at all.

Euticus, Aug(usti) ser(vus), pictorr. .
"Eutikus, slave of Augustus (= imperial slave), painter."
Eros, cocus Posidippi, ser(vus). .
"Eros, cook, slave of Posidippus."
Idaeus, Valeriae Messalin(ae) supra argentum. .
"Ideus, treasurer of Valeria Messalina."

The sold slave retained the nomen or cognomen of his former master in a modified form with the suffix -an-:

Philargyrus librarius Catullianus. .
"Philargir, scribe purchased from Catullus."

3. Names of freedmen

A slave, set free, received the praenomen and nomen of his master, who became his patron, and retained his former name in the form of cognomen. For example, a slave named Apella, who was set free by Marcus Manneus Primus, became known as Marcus Manneus Apella (). The slave Bassa, freed by Lucius Hostilius Pamphilus, received the name Hostilius Bassa (women did not have praenomina) (). Lucius Cornelius Sulla freed ten thousand slaves who belonged to persons who died during the proscriptions; they all became Lucius Cornelius (the famous “army” of ten thousand Cornelii).

The names of imperial freedmen are often found in the inscriptions: the baker Gaius Julius Eros, the tailor of theatrical costumes Tiberius Claudius Dipterus, the man in charge of the triumphal white clothes of the emperor Marcus Cocceus Ambrosius, the man in charge of the hunting clothes of the emperor Marcus Ulpius Euphrosynus, the man in charge of the reception of the emperor's friends Marcus Aurelius Success, etc.

In the inscriptions between the nomen and cognomen of the freedman, the praenomen of the master is abbreviated and written L or LIB (= libertus), very rarely the tribe is indicated:

Q(uintus) Serto, Q(uinti) l(ibertus), Antiochus, colonus pauper. .
"Quintus Sertorius Antiochus, freedman of Quintus, poor colon."

In rare cases, instead of the former master's praenomen, his cognomen stands:

L(ucius) Nerfinius, Potiti l(ibertus), Primus, lardarius. .
"Lucius Nerfinius Primus, freedman of Potitus, sausage maker."

Freedmen of the imperial house are abbreviated in inscriptions as AVG L (LIB) = Augusti libertus (after nomen or after cognomen):

L(ucio) Aurelio, Aug(usti) lib(erto), Pyladi, pantomimo temporis sui primo. .
"Lucius Aurelius Pylades, imperial freedman, the first pantomime of his time."

Freedmen with two cognomina are rare:

P(ublius) Decimius, P(ublii) l(ibertus), Eros Merula, medicus clinicus, chirurgus, ocularius. .
"Publius Decimius Eros Merula, freedman of Publius, general practitioner, surgeon, ophthalmologist."

Women freedmen are designated in inscriptions by the abbreviation) . L (the inverted letter C represents a remnant of the archaic feminine praenomen Gaia):

L(ucius) Crassicius, (= mulieris) l(ibertus), Hermia, medicus veterinarius. .
"Lucius Crassicius Hermia, female freedman, veterinarian."

Freedmen of cities received the name Publicius (from publicus public) or the name of the city as a family name: Aulus Publicius Germanus, Lucius Saepinius Oriens et Lucius Saepinius Orestus - freedmen of the city of Sepin in Italy ().

Doctors, servants of the deity Aesculapius (Greek: Asclepius), usually bore his name. For example, Gaius Calpurnius Asclepiades is a doctor from Prusa near Olympus, who received Roman citizenship from Emperor Trajan ().

However, the name Asclepius, or Asklepiades, did not always belong to the doctor: in one inscription we find Asklepiades, a slave of Caesar, a marble maker ().

The freedmen of the corporations retained their names in their name: the freedmen of the corporation of quilters and tailors (fabri centonarii) were called Fabricii and Centonii.

4. Names of provincials

Persons of non-Roman origin, along with receiving the right of Roman citizenship, received the praenomen and nomen of the emperor, and retained their former name in the form of cognomen.

For example, the free-born Parthian Migdonius, taken prisoner by the Romans, received the right of Roman citizenship and became known as Gaius Julius Migdonius ().

Residents of colonies founded by the Romans bore the name of the founder of the colony. Tacitus mentions the Aedui Julius Sacrovir and the Trevirs Julius Florus and Julius Indus, whose ancestors received the right of Roman citizenship under Julius Caesar (). One inscription from Moesia contains the artisan Julius Herculanus, his wife Julia Vivenia, their children: Julius Marcianus, Julius Marcellinus, Julia Marcia, Julia Heraclia and granddaughter Julia Marcellina ().

African inscriptions include Gaius Julius Pelops Salaput, Master of Carthage (), Marcus Aurelius Ammonion and Aurelius Aletus, residents of the Egyptian city of Hermopolis the Greater. One Spanish inscription mentions the oil pourer Marcus Julius Hermesian, his son Marcus Julius Hermes Frontinian and his grandson also Marcus Julius Hermesian ().

A similar phenomenon took place in the Northern Black Sea region, in particular in Chersonesos. Agepolis, one of the prominent inhabitants of the city, received Roman citizenship under the emperor Titus Flavius ​​Vespasian and became known as Titus Flavius ​​Agepolis. Other Chersonese inscriptions mention Ulpia, who received civil rights under Emperor Mark Ulpia Trajan ().

5. Names in late republican and imperial times. Names of emperors and their family members

Since the beginning of the empire, some shifts have been outlined in Roman anthroponymy, which are developing in two directly opposite directions: from three traditional names (praenomen, nomen, cognomen) to a reduction or increase in the number of official names.

The prerequisites for this were already laid down in the very nature of the Roman name, when the eldest son (or adopted son) received all three names of his father; in such cases there was a need for additional names.

The full three-term name was rarely used in practice; obviously it seemed unwieldy. Full names were used only in important documents (names of magistrates, owners, witnesses, etc.). From the writings of Roman historians it is clear that usually this or that person’s name was abbreviated, mainly by nomen or cognomen. Gaius Marius went down in history as Marius, and his opponent Lucius Cornelius Sulla - as Sulla; This happened, obviously, because the Cornelian family was very extensive, while no one else in the Mariev family was famous.

The first step towards shortening official names was taken by the founder of the Roman Empire, who went down in history under the name of Octavian Augustus, although he was never called that during his lifetime. His name was Gaius Octavius. After being adopted by Gaius Julius Caesar, he would have been called Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, but in inscriptions (from 40 BC) he is referred to only as Emperor Caesar. Thus, he actually excluded the generic names Julius and Octavian from his name, and turned the word “emperor” into a personal name. He did this, obviously, because in terms of nobility, the plebeian family of the Octavians could not be compared with the patrician family of the Julians.

In 27 BC. the heir of Julius Caesar added to his official name the title Augustus granted to him by the Senate (from augeo - to increase: giver of benefits, benefactor of the state or exalted by the gods).

Augustus's daughter Julia was married to Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, a major commander and friend of Augustus. The Vipsani family was not distinguished by nobility, and in the inscriptions the son-in-law of Augustus is referred to only as Mark Agrippa (without a family name). Moreover, the family name Vipsanias was not officially transferred to any of the five children of Agrippa and Julia. The eldest daughter, instead of Vipsania the Elder, was called by the family name of her mother - Julia, the youngest daughter - Agrippina, according to her father's cognomen. Vipsania Agrippina was the name of only Agrippa's daughter from his first marriage.

Having no heirs, Augustus adopted two sons, Agrippa and Julia, who, according to Roman tradition, would have retained their father's family name in the form of the cognomen Vipsanian. However, this did not happen; in the inscriptions the adopted ones are called Gaius Caesar and Lucius Caesar. After their early death, Augustus adopted two more in 4: the eldest son of his wife Livia Drusilla from her first marriage and the third son of Agrippa and Julia.

In her first marriage, Livia Drusilla was married to Tiberius Claudius Nero, with whom she had two sons. The eldest inherited all three names of his father, and the younger, as Suetonius writes, was first called Decimus, and then Nero (). Consequently, he was first Decimus Claudius Nero, and then became Nero Claudius Drusus (the cognomen Drusus belonged to the father of Livia Drusilla, whose name was Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus). The names of the children of Livia Drusilla were abbreviated as Tiberius (the future emperor) and Drusus (the father of the future emperor Claudius).

The full name of Agrippa's third son, born after his father's death, should have been Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Postumus. However, Suetonius calls him Agrippa () and Marcus Agrippa (), and Tacitus calls him Agrippa Postumus ().

After their adoption, they became officially known as Tiberius Julius Caesar and Agrippa Julius Caesar. Unlike the first pair of adopted children, they received the family name Julius; as personal names, they retained the names that they were usually called, and Agrippa passed from cognomen to praenomen.

At the same time, at the request of Augustus, Tiberius adopted his nephew (the son of his younger brother Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus the Elder); the adopted son became known as Germanicus Julius Caesar (he went down in history under the name Germanicus). Praenomen Germanicus was formed from cognomen.

Tiberius's own son began to be called Drusus Julius Caesar (in history he is known as Drusus the Younger), his praenomen Drusus was formed from the cognomen of his uncle Nero Claudius Drusus.

Thus, we can note the presence of two trends: the transition of cognomen to praenomen (Nero, Drusus, Agrippa) () and the refusal to use nomen and cognomen, in which the former nomen is preserved (Julius, Octavian, Vipsanian, Claudian).

Obviously, Augustus was ashamed of his ancestors Octavius ​​and relatives Vipsaniev, but did not want to be reproached for this, and completely crossed out the family names from himself and from the first couple of adopted children. By the time of the adoption of the second couple, Augustus's power had probably strengthened so much that he seemed to remember the existence of family names and gave the second couple the nomen Julius, but without the cognomen Claudian and Vipsanian (the seedy Vipsanians could not stand next to the famous ancient Claudii).

The main point is that Augustus actually gave impetus to the arbitrary name change.

Since the time of Augustus, the omission of the family name among the Julians has become, as it were, a tradition, and although those adopted in 4 AD received a nomen, in the inscriptions Germanicus is sometimes called simply Germanicus Caesar, and the son of Tiberius Drusus the Younger is Drusus Caesar.

Tiberius, having become emperor, was called only without a nomen: TI CAESAR.

The family name of the grandson of Tiberius (son of Drusus the Younger) was missing: TI CAESAR.

The sons of Germanicus were officially called NERO IVLIVS CAESAR (or NERO CAESAR) and DRVSVS CAESAR; the youngest son of Germanicus, Emperor Caligula, was called C CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS (very rarely IMP C CAESAR).

With the assassination of Caligula, the Julian dynasty ended, and power passed to the Claudii. It is characteristic that all Claudians retain the nomen, apparently in order to distinguish them from the Julios, since the praenomina and cognomina of the Julios and Claudii were the same.

The first emperor in the Claudian family was the grandson of Livia Drusilla, wife of Augustus, the youngest son of Drusus the Elder, who was called Tiberius Claudius Drusus Germanicus. Having become emperor, he took the name Tiberius Claudius Augustus Germanicus (he went down in history under the name Claudius).

Claudius married (for the fourth time) his niece Agrippina the Younger (daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder, Augustus's own granddaughter) and adopted her son from his first marriage, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, who received the family name Claudius, but did not retain his family name in the form of Domitian; he received the name Tiberius Claudius Drusus Germanicus Caesar and the cognomen Nero, which turned into his personal name, under which he went down in history. When he became emperor, he took the name NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVGVSTVS GERMANICVS.

The women were called Yuliev and Claudiev differently. Although all the women of the Julian family had nomen, in fact only the daughter and granddaughter of Augustus were called Julia. All three daughters of Germanicus were also Julia, but they were called not according to tradition “Elder”, “Second”, “Third”, but according to cognomen: Julia Agrippina (according to the cognomen of her mother Agrippina the Elder), Julia Drusilla (according to the cognomen of her great-grandmother Livia Drusilla ) and Julia Livilla (according to the nomen of her great-grandmother Livia Drusilla), in fact the daughters of Germanicus were called Agrippina, Drusilla and Livilla.

The granddaughter of Germanicus, daughter of Emperor Caligula, was Julia Drusilla (). She was named Drusilla, apparently because Drusilla was Caligula's favorite sister.

Women of the Claudian clan, on the contrary, were distinguished not by cognomen, but by clan name. The daughters of Emperor Claudius were named Claudia, Antonia (after the nomen of her grandmother Antonia the Younger) and Octavia (after the nomen of her great-grandfather Augustus). Since the official name of Octavia (Nero’s wife) is CLAVDIA OCTAVIA, then, probably, the second daughter was also called Claudia Antonia. This is the first time a woman has two generic names.

After his death, Augustus's wife Livia Drusilla was officially accepted into the Julian family and received the title of Augusta, so that she became known as Julia Augusta ().

Augustus was the first person to turn the title "emperor" into an official praenomen. In Republican times, this title was forced upon the commander by the Senate or soldiers for a major victory and remained with him until his return to Rome, where it gave him the right to celebrate a triumph. Sulla held this title for life. Julius Caesar accepted him as praenomen (). However, for Caesar, it did not yet serve as a symbol of supreme power, but indicated only the connection between the commander and the soldiers, and was not included in Caesar’s official title (there is no “title “emperor” in his coins) ().

Augustus, according to Tacitus, received this title 21 times () and officially made it his praenomen - IMP CAESAR, while among the generals of the era of the Republic this title followed the name (M. Tullius imperator). Augustus gave the title of emperor as praenomen to his stepsons Tiberius and Drusus (), since at that time this word was not yet synonymous with supreme ruler.

Emperor Tiberius dropped the word emperor from his official name (TI CAESAR AVG), but gave it to his adopted nephew Germanicus for his victory over the Germans (). Tacitus calls Agrippina the Younger the daughter of the emperor, although her father Germanicus was never the head of state (). The word emperor finally lost its former meaning during the reign of Tiberius, about which Tacitus writes the following: “Tiberius, considering the war over, granted Blaise that the legions would greet him as emperor: this was an ancient honor for generals who, after the successful end of the war, among "" ()

Subsequent monarchs take this title as praenomen, but still hesitantly. Only in rare cases are Caligula, Claudius and Nero called IMP C CAESAR, IMP TI CLAVDIVS, IMP NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS, more often praenomen IMP is absent from their titles. The names of Galba and Vitellius were written both with and without praenomen IMP. Only starting with Otho, all monarchs have praenomen IMP, which becomes a formal sign of the person who has the highest power in the state. Vespasian, whose full name was originally Titus Flavius ​​Vespasian, takes the official name IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG (or IMP VESPASIANVS CAESAR AVG).