Many Romans, especially those from more distinguished families, had three names:
1. GAIVS: praenōmen
2. IVLIVS: nōmen
3. CAESAR: cognōmen
1. PRAENŌMEN: the equivalent of our first name
2. NŌMEN: The name of the gens: family or clan i.e. similar to our surnames
3. COGNŌMEN: This was originally a nickname, which could distinguish different individuals and branches of leading families. It could refer to a military honour, for example Gnaeus Pompeus Magnus (Pompey the Great), or frequently to some physical characteristic of the individual: Rufus (red-haired). Scrawled on a wall in Pompeii is a little Roman cartoon making fun of a man called Rufus: RUFUS EST (see image below).
4. The names of women in Rome did not follow the same pattern as for men’s names: they were usually known by their family name (nōmen) e.g. Cornelia is from the gens Cornelia and, if there were more than one daughter, words such as maior (elder), minor (younger), secunda (second) or tertia (third) may be added to indicate birth order.
Most Roman first names – praenōmina - if referring to males, end in –(i)us, and most female names end in -a. Many have both male and female equivalents, for example Octāvius / Octāvia, and Iūlius / Iūlia. Here are some further examples of Roman praenomina:
Male:
- Flavius
- Lucius
- Marcus
- Publius
- Quintus
- Sextus
- Cornelia
- Flavia
- Fulvia
- Lepida
- Livia
- Messalina
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