�� Nota: Roman Names

The typical well-to-do Roman citizen had three names. For example, Marcus Tullius Cicero.

Their last name was, as it is with us, their family name (called the cognomen). Sometimes when someone's name was written or spoken the last name would be given first, and their middle name second. Very often the family name derives from some notable feature of a renowned family ancestor. For example, the cognomen "Scaevola" means "Lefty" (from scaevus, "left"), the name taken from a legendary ancestor who volunteered to burn his own right hand off just to scare invaders into lifting a siege on Rome (after all, who wants to fight a race of people who are that patriotic?).

A Roman's middle name was his clan name (called the nomen). A Roman clan was called a gens and one gens consisted of numerous familia. All clan names end with -ius in Latin, and famous examples are Julius (Surprise! Julius Caesar's first name was actually Gaius), Tullius, Plinius ("Pliny"), and Flavius (as in Titus Flavius Vespasianus: that is why the emperor Vespasian and his sons are called the "Flavians").

The first name was called the praenomen and was a personal name much like our first names today. Although we also employ a limited number of first names (how many people do you know named Mike or John?), among the Roman upper classes there were only some twenty or so names in use, so they were usually abbreviated. The abbreviations were in use for such a long time that they reflect archaic spelling conventions long out of use by the time Roman literature hits the scene, yet the abbreviations never changed. The usual abbreviations are:

A.	Aulus	K.	Caeso	Sp.	Spurius	D.	Decimus
App.	Appius	L.	Lucius	P.	Publius	T.	Titus
C.	Gaius	M.	Marcus	Q.	Quintus	Ti.	Tiberius
Cn.	Gnaeus	Ser.	Servius	V.	Vibius	Sex.	Sextus

Adoption: Usually, when someone was adopted into a new family they took the name of their adoptive father, while sometimes retaining their old family name, now modified to be an adjective (that is, the ending -ianus was added in Latin). For example, when Caesar adopted Gaius Octavius he became Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, hence "Octavian" (later hailed as Augustus). Freed slaves, too, often adopted their previous master's name, and kept their original, single name as their last name.

Honorary Names: Often someone will be given or will take an honorary name, usually from a notable military victory. This name was called an agnomen and was often passed from father to sons, one of the many ways Roman society tried to egg its young men into living up to the reputations of their ancestors. Famous examples are Germanicus (for victories in Germany) and Africanus (for victories in Africa), but also Augustus ("Magesty" or "Reverend") and Empiricus (for being a renowned member of that particular school of medical theory).

Women: Women usually took no first name. They simply acquired the clan-name of their father, or sometimes of others (a maternal grandfather, for example), suitably feminized (e.g. Julia from Julius, Tullia from Tullius). If there was more than one in a family they would be noted by the appellation "the elder" (maior) or "the younger" (minor), or they would be numbered (Secunda, Tertia, Quartia, etc.). Sometimes women also took a family name, usually from their father. However, when they married they did not change their names. The only indication of their marriage might be the occasional inclusion of the possessive form of their husband's clan-name.