Conversational Latin/Roman Names

Salvete!
We had a great time last night during the conversational Latin hour. Students were very interested in obtaining Roman names, so I thought I might talk a bit about Roman names within my blog.

The Romans were not very creative with their names. In fact, when you go to Rome itself you will see that they do not, even to this day, spend a lot of time thinking about names. :)

There were a handful of praenomina,i.e. first names, for boys. First names for boys included Aulus, Decimus, Gaius, Gnaeus, Kaeso, Lucius, Manius, Marcus, Publius, Quintus, Dervius, Sextus, Spurius, Tiberius and Titus. Each of these names could be abbreviated. The praenomen is how a person would be addressed by his friends.

The nomen was the family name. Most nomina end in -ius or some variation of -ius. Everyone connected with that family, even slaves, would have that nomen. If a plebeian and a patrician were affiliated in a family, they would all have this all-important name.

The cognomen separated the different strands of the family. Each branch had its own cognomen. The original cognomen referred back to the original tribes of Rome. People who belonged to those tribes were old Romans! Other cognomina included both physical traits such as Albus (White), Barbatus (bearded), Claudus (Limping), Longus (Tall), Naso (Nose), Capito (Head), Ventro (Belly). Publius Ovidius Naso's family was known for their big noses. :)
What would your family's cognomen be?

Girls took the feminine form of their father's nomen. A man names Iulius would have a daughter names Iulia. If he had more than one daughter, they would be named Iulia Prima, Iulia Secunda, etc.

For more information on Roman names, go to this site:
http://www.novaroma.org/wiki/Choosing_a_Roman_name

Gratias!
Kathy Sheppard

Conversational Latin class

On Tuesday April 20 at 8:00 PM EST, I shall be having a conversational Latin class. We shall be discussing responses to the question, "Quomodo agis?"

Please join!