Today, Roman names are not very popular. This is partly due to the fact that most of them are forgotten, and their meaning is completely unclear. If you delve into history, then at the dawn of the Roman Empire, children and adults were given names throughout their lives, and later they turned into family names. The peculiarity of Roman names is still of genuine interest to historians.
Name structure
In ancient times, people, just like now, the name consisted of three parts. Only if we are used to calling a person by their last name, first name and patronymic, then the Romans had slightly different features.
The first name in Roman sounded like a prenomen. It was similar to our Petya, Misha. There were very few such names - only eighteen. They were used only for men and were rarely pronounced, in writing they were more often denoted by one or two capital letters. That is, no one wrote them completely. Few meanings of these names have survived to this day. Yes, and Appian, Gneuiev and Quintov are difficult to find among children these days.
Ancient Roman names had the most important second part - the nomen. This name corresponded to the genus. Just like we use last names now. At the dawn of the Empire, it was customary to add the suffix -ius to the ending. For example, there are such famous Roman names as Antonius, Claudius, Flavius, Valerius. From them came the names Anton, Claudius, Flavian and Valery.
The third part of the name was an ordinary nickname received during life for merit or just like that. It was called the cognomen. Often in the next generation, the name-cognomen was already used as a nomen, that is, it denoted a gender.
But even so, it often happened that the boy brothers had the same name. To distinguish them, it was necessary to add one more, fourth part - the agnomen. It was given for special merits, victories and success. It used to be that they were simply called - red, fat, tall, etc.
Roman names for men
In most cases, the names of the genera have survived to this day. Because over time they turned into proper names. Of course, now few people in Russia call the baby Guy or Julius, but there are still such cases. But in Europe, many use historical resources to study primordially ancient names. Consider some Roman male names and their meanings.
- Agelast - gloomy, dull.
- Agneobarb - having a red beard.
- Albin - blond.
- Beast - cruel, bestial.
- Brutus is narrow-minded,dumb.
- Varro - clubfoot, bow-legged.
- Dentat - smiling, with beautiful teeth.
- Kalv - losing hair, bald.
- Kald is a bore.
- Cato - cunning, dodgy.
- Lenat - consecrated.
- Lentulus - slow, unhurried.
- Maxim is great, powerful.
- Manzin - offended by life.
- Margaret is as precious as a pearl.
- Metellus - freedom-loving.
- Nazon - with a big nose.
- Pulchr - beautiful, stately.
- Ruf is red.
- Saturnine - under the auspices of Saturn.
- Silon - with a snub nose.
- The verse is mysterious, thoughtful.
- Eburn - strong, unshakable.
Roman female names
Girls didn't have prenomen and cognomen. They didn't have their own names at all. Belonging could be recognized only by genus. If there were three daughters in the Yuliev family, then they were all called Yulia with one difference - the eldest, second, third, etc. By the way, the second was called Secunda, Tertia - the third, Minor - the youngest, Major - the eldest.
When a woman got married, the nomen of her husband was added to her generic meaning. For example, Mark's wife Livia Drusus went down in history as Livia Drusilla. Roman female names have practically not survived to this day.
Examples of the most famous female names
Cybele, Xantia, Xin, Klefiyo, Margarites, Mediaya, Medusa, Melissa, Maya, Narkissa, Olympias, Ophelia, Parthenia, Parenike, Rhea, Souzanna, Selena, Sofia, Sapfeir, Sophronia, Theodora, Triosa, Themis, Hekuba, Chryseis, Chara, Euterpe, Elin, Erliya, Elizabeth, Echo, Yutalia, Yufrozin.
Slaves and freedmen
Initially, slaves were not named at all. With the growth of slavery, it was necessary to distinguish between all subjects, and then the place of origin of the slave was used. Most often they were Greeks, Dacians, Koreans or just foreigners.
Roman names were awarded to freedmen. Moreover, the nomen of the owner was added to his nickname.
The most famous genera
The names of men could have five or six, or even more components. It soon became quite uncomfortable. Especially among the imperial nobility. Names of Roman origin often echoed each other, and the same king in two different generations was called the same. And the first attempt to reduce the number of names was made by Octavian August.
In fact, his name was Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian, since he was adopted by the great emperor. But, having come to power, he missed the first three parts, and soon added to his name the title of Augustus (as the benefactor of the state).
August Octavian had three daughters Julia. Having no boy heirs, he had to adopt grandchildren, who were also called Julius Caesars. But since they were only grandchildren, they retained theirnames given at birth. So, the heirs of Tiberius Julius Caesar and Agripa Julius Caesar are known in history. They became famous under the simple names of Tiberius and Agripa, having founded their own clans. Thus, there is a tendency to decrease the name and the disappearance of the need for parts of nomen and coglomen.
It is very easy to get confused in the abundance of generic names. Therefore, Roman names are the most difficult to recognize in the world.
