Ancient Roman names for women. Roman names are a mirror of ancient society

In ancient Rome, names and their meanings were taken very seriously. The Romans believed that the fate of man lies in them. They believed that if the ill-wisher knew the name, he could take away the life of a person with the help of magic. That is why slaves were forbidden to pronounce the name of their master.

Rome is one of the oldest cities in the world, it was once the capital of the glorious Roman Empire. The inhabitants of the city of that time can be conditionally divided into two groups: free and slaves. Meanwhile, each of these groups consisted of many other smaller communities. Free citizens could be both native inhabitants of Rome, they are called patricians, and visitors from other areas of the empire - plebeians. Slaves, on the other hand, received their status based on their origin and place of service. They could be private, public, prisoners of war, bought in special markets or born in the master's house. And what is most interesting, Roman names were given depending on the status of a person, his origin and belonging to the family tree.

Structure of ancient Roman names

The history of the emergence of Roman names was quite confusing, because it evolved over many centuries. Finally, the system of names and their assignments, which were entrenched in ancient Rome for a long time, were formed around the 2nd century AD. e. - at the peak of the mighty Roman Empire.

In those days, Roman names had a clear structure by which it was possible to determine to which genus a person belongs. Moreover, the Romans were honored to give full names only to men, the situation is different with women. For a full understanding of these traditions, the division must be studied in more detail.

Roman names, male and priestly, consisted of three parts. This system is a bit like our modern one: the first name is a prenomen (personal name), the second one denotes belonging to a certain genus - a nomen (something like a surname) and, finally, the third name is a cognomen, a person received it due to some signs in his appearance. Let's study each of them in more detail.

Origin of male names

There were few personal male names in total: there are no more than 20 of them. The thing is that the Romans had a tradition of naming their eldest sons in honor of their father. It turns out that all the first-born of the same kind had the same names. A prenomen is a personal name given to boys on the ninth day after birth. By a decree of the Senate - the main authority in ancient Rome, in the period of the 200s BC. e. it was decided to call all the eldest sons the prenomen of the father. That is why many emperors bore the names of their great-grandfathers, grandfathers and fathers. Their children also continued the glorious tradition and were named in honor of their ancestors with the same names. But Roman names (female) were given to daughters with some changes in the endings to indicate that it belongs to a woman.

generic names

The history of the origin of the second name is very interesting. Nomen is generic name, which denoted the belonging of a person to a certain genus. Total generic names exceeds one thousand, according to the Roman encyclopedist and writer Marcus Varro. Nomens, unlike prenomens, were never abbreviated in writing, with the exception of only the most famous generic names. For example, the nomen Antonius could be written as Ant. or Anthony.

Perhaps the most mysterious element is the cognomen (third Roman names) - male, which were considered optional. That is, they could be absent in some men. The essence of the Roman name in this case is that the Roman received a nickname for some personal qualities in character or appearance. Later, new branches began to appear in family lineage, which received their names in honor of the cognomen of their progenitor. The most famous are the genera Probus (in translation - honest, a nickname received for the truthfulness and purity of a person), Rufus (red, it is obvious that it was received for external qualities), Severus (merciless) and Lucro (glutton).

Beautiful names: Roman and Greek

It is not surprising that the composition of the Roman population was heterogeneous, because people of different classes came to the capital of the empire from all territories. Over the centuries, the inhabitants mixed with each other: the Romans intermarried with the Greeks, as a result, new names appeared, which over time were firmly entrenched in Roman society. Greek and Roman names have many similarities, because their culture is based on a common belief in the existence of ancient gods and similar mythology. However, despite these facts, Greek names are very different from Roman ones. For example, the Greeks called their children exclusively good names who had certain meaning. They believed that then the child receives the protection of the gods. It is almost impossible to trace the history of the emergence of each of them, therefore it is believed that many ancient Greek names may be of Roman origin. Here are the most beautiful and famous Greco-Roman names: Alexandros - defender of the motherland; Andreas - warlike, brave; Archimedes - thinking, wise; Vasilis - royal blood; Gregorios - vigilant; Giorgios - economic; Doraseos - the gift of the gods; Ioannis - kind; Konstantios - strong, unshakable; Nikias, Nikon - victorious.

Female Roman names: origin and features

Basically, social order Romans can be classified as patriarchal with elements of some amendments in favor of women. The fact is that the position of a resident of Rome was determined social status her father. If the girl was from a noble and wealthy family, then those around her treated her with respect. Such a person had relative freedom: she could appear in society, had the right to physical inviolability, that is, even her husband could not force her to love.

And even despite this, for some reason, women were deprived of a personal name. They were called only by the generic names of the fathers, however, slightly changing the ending to get other Roman names (the female forms were formed using the ending -ia). For example, the favorite of the daughters of Gaius Julius Caesar was called Julia, and the eldest daughter of Publius Cornelius Scipio was named Cornelia. That is why all women of the same genus had the same names, which differed only in prenomens.

According to tradition, when other daughters were born in the family, a prenomen was added to their family name - nomen, which was determined depending on her age. Sisters were called by their personal name in order of birth, for example, Major was called the eldest, Secunda was the second, Tertila was the third, and Minor is the prenomen of the youngest sister.

Names of married women

When a girl got married, the cognomen (nickname) of her husband was added to her name. Everyone addressed a married woman, calling her full name. For example, Julia (father's nomen - Julius), who married Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, received the name Julia, daughter of Julia, (wife) Gracchus.

The writing also indicated the full name of the woman. The most famous inscription"Caeciliae, Q(uinti) Cretici f(iliae), Metellae, Crassi (uxori)" is carved on the tomb of the wife of the triumvirate, Marcus Licinius Crassus.

Women from very noble families who married influential person, had the right to inherit not only the generic name, but also the cognomens of their fathers. For example, the full name of the wife of the commander Crassus was Cecilia Metellus, received from her father, whose name was Lucius Caecilius Metellus Dalmatica. He was a military leader who defeated the Dalmatians, for which he later received from the Senate his fourth name - agnomen.

Archaic form of slave names

The system of names for slaves was formed as a result of the extensive spread of slave ownership: in official documents, which were invariable attributes of the political structure of Ancient Rome, it was necessary to enter all the names of slaves.

Slaves usually had names of Greek origin, such as Antigonus, Philonikos, Deadumene, or Eros. Slaves were considered property, therefore legally they were not subjects, but objects, this explains their complete lack of rights and dependence on masters. Many of them received Roman names, consisting of the prenomen of the master, the nomen or cognomen of the fathers and the additional word puer (son, boy).

In the Roman Empire, the fate of slaves was very difficult, but this did not affect their names in any way: on the contrary, many received nicknames that sounded positive, for example, Felix - happy, joyful.

Modern names

Over time, the names have changed under the influence of change historical eras. Most of the ancient Greek names have survived to this day. True, many of them have a slightly different form, which differs only in endings. The root of modern European names and ancient Greek ones is the same.

Many converted Roman names are still used in some European countries. It is believed that Latin, the language in which the Romans wrote, has died out. However, this is not entirely true, because almost all European languages ​​​​are successors of Latin. Here full list Roman names (male and female), which are relevant today:

• Alexander and Alexandra;
• Augustine and Augustine;
• Aurelius and Albina;
• Benedict and Bella (Belus);
• Hector and Gella;
• Gasper and Hermione;
• Gommer and Gaia;
• Dimitri and Daphne;
• Hippolyte and Irena;
• Castor and Cassandra;
• Leo and Laida;
• Maya, Melissa and Melanie;
• Nestor and Nika;
• Penelope;
• Rhea and Selena;
• Timofey, Tikhon and Tia;
• Theodore, Philip, Frida and Florence (Flora).

These Roman names have almost lost their original meaning, now people call their children this way, guided mainly by aesthetic whims. After all, these names sound very beautiful and have interesting story origin.

The name is a guess.

(Roman saying)

Thorough, striving to put everything and everywhere on a legal basis, the Romans attached much more importance than the Greeks to "surnames" - generic names that pass from generation to generation. This was primarily due to the social and political differences that initially existed in Rome between full-fledged patrician families and plebeian families, who still had to achieve political full rights in the city. Initially, the Roman got by with two names: personal (prenomen) and generic (nomen gentile). In the era of the republic and later, they began to call him by three names: a family nickname (cognomen) was added, and sometimes a person received another nickname - an individual one. There is no need to look far for examples: let us recall at least Mark Tullius Cicero, Gaius Julius Caesar, Publius Ovid Nason, Quintus Horace Flaccus, Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus the Elder.

There were few personal names in Rome:

The paucity of these names made it possible in documents, inscriptions, literary works denote them by generally accepted abbreviations - one or more of the first letters of the name. The most common names were Mark, Publius, Lucius, Quintus, Guy, Gnaeus, Titus; the rest are less common. Some personal names are formed simply from numerals: Quintus (fifth), Sextus (sixth), Decimus (tenth), which, perhaps, speaks of the poor imagination of the Romans in this area, especially if we recall the beautiful, diverse, eloquent names of the Greeks.

Gaius Julius Caesar. Mark Tullius Cicero

There were much more generic names: Claudius, Julius, Licinius, Tullius, Valery, Emilius and many others. Each clan included several large families: for example, the families of Scipios, Rufins, Lentuls, Cetegovs belonged to the Cornelius clan, and members of the Pavlov and Lepid families wore the “nomen gentile” Emilius.

Some personal names were the exclusive property of certain families: for example, the name Appius is found only in the Claudian family, and the Mamercus prenomen was monopolized by representatives of the Aemilia family. If someone stained his family with some shameful deed, then his name was no longer used in this family. So, in the Claudian family we will not find the name Lucius, but in the Manliev family from 383 BC. e. there was a ban for the name Mark, after the patrician Mark Manlius, the winner of the Equi in 392 BC. e. and the defender of the Capitol during the invasion of the Gauls on Rome, resolutely spoke out for the rights of the plebeians, thus causing the furious hatred of the Roman patricians, including their own relatives. He was recognized as a "traitor to his kind" ( Livy. From the founding of the city, VI, 20), and from now on, members of the Manli family were forbidden to name their children after him.

When the genus grew and separate families stood out within it, there was a need for cognomens. The first family nicknames arose among the patricians and were associated with the main occupations of the Romans at that time - agriculture and cattle breeding. The nickname Pilumn goes back to the word "pilum" - pestle; Pizon - from the verb "pizo" or "pinzo" - to crush, grind. From the names of cultivated plants come the family nicknames Cicero ("tsitser" - peas), Lentulov ("lens" - lentils). In the genus Juniev, the nickname Bubulk is found - booshez, since the first representatives of this genus were known for raising oxen. Other cognomen reflect some feature person: Cato - dexterous, cunning; Brutus - inert, blunt; Cincinnatus - curly.

Already in the era of the republic, some prominent citizens had, as mentioned above, not three, but four names. The fourth was an additional nickname (agnomen), which was assigned for outstanding feats or for the exemplary and memorable performance of certain people. official duties. Publius Cornelius Scipio, Hannibal's vanquisher at the Battle of Zama in 202 BC e., received the honorary nickname African. Mark Porcius Cato, who became famous for his activities as a censor, remained in history as Cato the Censor. Such nicknames could even be inherited by the eldest son of the hero, but over time this custom was abandoned.

Initially, when a young Roman was entered into the lists of citizens or other official documents, only his personal name and the full three-part name of his father in the genitive case were recorded. Subsequently, the practice changed and began to indicate all three names of the new citizen, along with the name of his father. In the inscriptions, one can also find references to the name of the grandfather or even great-grandfather: “son of Mark”, “grandson of Publius”, etc. Caesar, wanting to bring more order to the administrative affairs of the state, decided in his municipal law of 49 BC. e., so that in the acts not only all three names of the citizen, but also the name of his father are given, and in addition, it is noted to which urban tribe the person belongs. (Rome has long been subdivided into 35 tribes.) Therefore, in official documents, a citizen was called like this: “Mark Tullius, son of Mark, grandson of Mark, great-grandson of Mark, from the tribe of Cornelius, Cicero” or “Mark Metilius, son of Gaius, from the Pomptine tribe, Marcellinus".

Daughters were called the generic name of the father in the female form: the daughter of the same Mark Tullius Cicero was called Tullia, the daughter of Terence was Terentia, etc. Sometimes a prenomen was added, which came mainly from numerals: Tertia (third), Quintilla (fifth). Married woman retained her name - "nomen gentile", but her husband's family nickname in the genitive case was added to it. In official documents, it looked like this: "Terence, daughter of Terence (wife) of Cicero" or "Livia Augusta", that is, the wife of Augustus. In the era of the empire, women often had double names, for example: Aemilia Lepida.

A Roman could become a member of a foreign clan by adoption (“adoptio”), while he took the full three-term name of the adopter, and kept his own generic name as a second cognomen with the addition of a suffix - an (us). So, Paul Aemilius, after he was adopted by Publius Cornelius Scipio, began to be called: Publius Cornelius Scipio Emilianus, and Titus Pomponius Atticus, a friend of Cicero, adopted by his uncle Quintus Caecilius, left himself and his family nickname, turning into Quintus Caecilius Pomponianus Atticus . Sometimes not only the family nickname, but also the generic name of the adopted person remained unchanged as cognomens: when Gaius Pliny Secundus adopted his nephew Publius Caecilius Secundus, they began to call him Gaius Pliny Caecilius Secundus. It also happened that the son received a nickname from the mother's family name; this was intended to emphasize the close union of the two families: for example, Servius Cornelius Dolabella Petronius bore the family name and cognomen of his father, Cornelius Dolabella, while he inherited the second nickname from his mother, whose name was Petronia. So, we see that there was no strictly defined order in the Roman anthroponymic nomenclature and, say, the origin of the second family nickname was very different in different cases.

Christianity, trying to break away from pagan tradition names, decisively introduced into the nomenclature unusual, artificially created and sometimes quite bizarre constructions, dating back to Christian ritual formulas and prayers. It is enough to give a few examples: Adeodata - "given by God", Deogracias - "thanks to God" and even Kvodvultdeus - "what God wants".

As in Greece, slaves in Rome could keep the names given to them at birth. More often, however, in houses and estates, slaves were distinguished by their origin, and then the ethnicon replaced the personal name: Sir, Gall, etc. Slaves were also called “puer” - a boy, - combining this designation with the name of the master in the genitive case. Thus, the slave of Mark (Martsi Puer) became Marzipor, and the slave of Publius (Publii Puer) became Publipor.

A slave set free, a freedman, took the generic, and sometimes personal name of his master, who granted him freedom, but kept his own name as a cognomen. Andronicus, a Greek from Tarentum, one of the founders of Roman literature (3rd century BC), received freedom from Livy Salinator, and with it the traditional Roman three-term name: Lucius Livius Andronicus. Tyro, an educated slave and secretary of Cicero, having gained freedom, began to be called Mark Tullius Tyro. It happened otherwise. A Roman who let his slave go free could give him not his own generic name, but the “nomen gentile” of another person with whom he maintained friendly and family ties. One of Cicero's slaves, Dionysius, having become a freedman, received the name Mark Pomponius Dionysius: Cicero gave him his personal name, and borrowed the generic name from his friend Atticus, who highly valued the educated Dionysius.

The slave, who was set free by a woman, took the personal and family name of her father, and in addition, official acts indicated to whom he owed his freedom: for example, Mark Livius, a freedman of Augusta, Ismar.

Let us add, finally, that quite a few foreigners sought to impersonate Roman citizens at any cost and, perhaps, therefore, they willingly accepted Roman names, especially generic ones. Only the emperor Claudius strictly forbade people of foreign origin to assign themselves Roman generic names, and for an attempt to fraudulently impersonate a Roman citizen, the guilty person was subject to death penalty (Suetonius. Divine Claudius, 25).

And how many hours are now devoted to history ancient world? Probably a tiny amount. So the ancient Romans remain in the memory of their descendants in the form of eyeless statues and drum rolls of names. Mark Tullius Cicero! Gaius Julius Caesar! Titus Flavius ​​Vespasian!

By the way, it is worth talking about Roman names especially, because they were built according to a rather intricate, but logical principle.

In contrast, which actually had only a personal name, the ancient Romans attached great importance to the genus from which a person originated. Therefore, in the name of a decent Roman, apart from personal name (praenomen) necessarily included family name (nomen). In the end, the tradition of naming a person by his personal name and surname became common European from the Roman one. In addition, the Roman name often had a third part, cognomen. It was individual nickname or the name of a branch of the genus.

The number of names currently in use in any of European countries, numbering in the hundreds. Some of them are popular, some are less common. Americans generally form new names by abbreviating or truncating names, so to speak, canonical. Bob is, it turns out, Robert, and Dick is Richard. You won't realize right away!

Among the ancient Romans, 12 personal names were most often used. Among them are Guy (Gaius), Mark (Marcus), Publius (Publius), Tiberius (Tiberius), Titus (Titus). Personal names were so ancient that no one knew their meaning. Just words... Personal names were usually abbreviated in inscriptions. Since there were few names, anyone could guess what such an abbreviation means.

Remember how the hero of Gogol's "Overcoat" turned out to be a failure already at baptism? All some awkward names fell out to him from the calendar, so he had to take the name of his father, which is also not very harmonious for the Russian ear. So he became Akaky Akakievich. It was a long tradition in Rome to give the father's personal name to the eldest son. The grandfather and father of Mark Tullius Cicero, the eldest in the family, were also Mark Tullius.

The number of personal names, already small, was further limited in some families. The personal name of a person who committed a crime became forbidden in his family, and more boys were not called by this name.

The family name in Latin was called simply the name (nomen). This shows that for the Romans, the clan, the family were more important than the person himself, who belonged to this family. The Roman family was much more family modern and built differently. In addition to parents and children, this family could include distant relatives and even slaves or freedmen. Adoption rules were very liberal, and consanguinity was not considered a decisive factor.

So, Gaius Julius Caesar adopted his great-nephew Gaius Octavius ​​Furinus, who, after the assassination of Caesar, became his heir, and later the first Roman emperor under the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian. The personal name of both Caesar and his heir coincided. Both were named Guy. But one of them belonged to the Julius family, and the other to the Octavia family.

By the way, Spartacus, a slave, a Thracian by origin, is known to posterity only by his own name. None family name he, of course, did not.

Thus, the ancient Roman family, the surname, was a rather large association, headed by the father of the family, the patron. He played the role of commander of this small army and had unlimited rights in the family. In principle, the Roman Senate could even forgive him for the murder of one of his family members. Parricide was considered the most serious crime, and there was no justification for it.

Let's move on to the third component of Roman surnames. As already mentioned, both the grandfather and father of the famous Roman orator were also Mark Tullius. But the nickname "Cicero" ("cicero") was only with him. “Cicer” is the Latin name for the chickpea, a leguminous plant that today we call “Turkish nut”. From this plant in the Middle East they make tasty and no less tasty dish falafel. Mark Tullius Sr. received such a nickname because of the shape of the nose, wide and flattened. The outstanding Roman poet Publius Ovid Nason also had a nickname associated with the nose. "Naso" is Latin for "nosed".

At the most, perhaps, famous in our time ancient roman nickname-cognomen was "Caesar", which meant "hairy" (from Latin word"caesaries" - "hair"). His heir, Octavian, adopted as a family not only the name "Julius", but also the nickname "Caesar". He is known to have been the founder of the Roman Empire. Following him, many emperors added the name "Caesar" to their names. Thus, this word has become a symbol of a mighty and absolute ruler. It subsequently formed Russian word"tsar".

Sometimes a Roman could have several nicknames. Yes, commander. Publius Cornelius Scipio (235 BC - 183 BC) for the victory over Hannibal he received an additional cognomen and became known as Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus. His first nickname, "scipio", meant "rod". He belonged to the Cornelian family, and his personal name was Publius. By the way, his descendants, Cornelius Scipio, gave men only three personal names: Gnaeus, Lucius and Publius.

One of Caesar's assassins was Marcus Junius Brutus Caepio (85 BC - 42 BC). His nickname "Brutus" means "rough". The word "brutal" also came from this Latin word in Russian. The second nickname for Brutus appeared after he was adopted by his mother's brother, Quintus Servilius Caepio. After the adoption, Brutus also became Caepio.

Daughters in Roman families were not given a name, they wore female form generic name: Julia, Valeria, Cornelia, Flavia. If there were several daughters, they were called “eldest” (Major) and “younger” (Minor), or they were given a “serial number”: “second” (Secunda), “third” (Tertia) and so on. When marrying, a woman received an additional generic name of her husband. So, Julius Caesar's wife was called Cornelia Julia (daughter of Cornelia, wife of Julius)

Slaves, as already mentioned, were also members of a large Roman family-surname. Therefore, the family name of the owner was attached to their name. Because it was not common for slaves to be given Roman personal names, their names were more varied than those of free Romans. Often a barbarian slave was given Greek name and attached to the name also his profession (cook, librarian, doctor).

A slave who received freedom, that is, a freedman, received the personal and family name of his former owner and often remained under his patronage (in Latin it was called "client"). Thus, the famous Jewish writer and historian Josephus Flavius ​​(37−100) at birth, he was named Yosef ben Matityahu (that is, Joseph Matveyevich). During the Jewish War, he was captured by the commander Titus Flavius ​​Vespasian, to whom he predicted the imperial future. When Vespasian became emperor, he gave Joseph his freedom. At the same time, Joseph began to be called family name his former master - Flavius.

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

The Romans were extremely serious about the names, and they believed that fate was hidden 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 the 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. Slaves at first did not have nicknames at all, as 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 constituent parts of male names. They consisted of three parts:

• Praenomenon- the personal name of a man (Latin praenomen).
• Nomen- the name of the genus / dynasty / family (lat. nomen).
• cognomen- Personal nickname / nickname of a person, or a title given for merit or success in any field. (Latin 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 granted such privileges as appearance at public events and the right to immunity, even own husband. But despite this, Roman women were still deprived proper names and they had no change.

Girls were called the family nomen of the patriarch of the family, sometimes changing the ending to “a \ ya” (ia), which emphasized the female form when addressing. In fact, the name of the 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 clan, for example, father Mark Tullius Cicero, therefore will bear the name Tullia (Tullia). The name Julia, also popular in the CIS, 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 genus bore the same names and differed only in cognomens. If several girls were born in the family, then this was not a problem. To distinguish between women of the same family, age cognomens were used.. First and most eldest daughter in the family they called Major (Major), which meant "senior".

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

Representatives of the most influential families of the city, especially the imperial, had advantages, so they had the honor to proudly wear the cognomens and agnomens of their fathers. When a Roman woman went out, she retained her family name, but she always added her husband's nomen or cognomen to it. That is the name of each 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 Pompey, literally - the young lady is the daughter of Julius and the wife of Pompey, in this case Pompey is the nomen of her husband. Mark's wife Livia Drusus became famous as Livia Drusilla, here the nomens of families coincide, and Drusus is a 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, it became allowed to proudly wear the title or nickname of their father. Cognomens could be in a 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 Sempronia Tuditana.

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 family nomen of the father with the name of the mother, as well as 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, Claudia's sister, had her grandfather's cognomen (Drusus) as her name, Livilla was named after her paternal grandmother, Livia, and Theodosia's daughter could easily be called Galla Placidia, partly after her mother. In later generations traditional rules became softer, and the names of most Roman women already bore little or no resemblance to the names of their parents and relatives.

The daughters of Claudius were no longer Claudia Major and Claudia Minor, the parents' decision was to name them Claudia Antonia and Claudia Octavia.

In the Sever 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 the most different values, moreover invented and not related to the generic name.

At first, only rich and noble dynasties used them to show their privileges and significance, later the fashion to call newborn girls beautifully and meaningfully made its way to the middle and lower strata of the population and was finally entrenched among the ancient Roman people.

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

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

So strange, controversial and not very positive:

• 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, therefore they are the most difficult to recognize for historians from all over the world. Many names used in our century are transformed or differ at least in the ending, since Latin, the language ancient rome, became the ancestor of English and many European languages. The meanings of these names are almost lost today, but resourceful parents still use them because of their beauty and unusualness.

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

building name

Initially, Roman names included only one member. It is worth noting 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 Romulus' successors, Servius Tullius, Noumea Pompiliusza or Ankusa Marcius. Your two people consisted of names ( personal name) and last name ( gentilicium or tribal sweat.)
In the republic there was an appearance on three parts of the structure, adding a nickname. Roman now given first name, last name and pseudonym ( nickname.) This is what it actually looks like:

During the time of the republic, the fourth component turned into a habit of broadcasting, which added a second nickname ( agnomen.) She received, in particular, Publius Cornelius Scipio, The winner of the Zamy Hannibal, who had the right to wear agnomenu African. Nickname for the eldest son by inheritance. Over time, however, this custom disappeared.

In interpersonal relationships, what is not used by the full name is limited to one of its members. Between family and close friends is usually limited personal name. In other circumstances, the Romans turned 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 has tarnished the name of a shameful act, his name will be permanently excluded from this family. Los met such a name Lucius Klaudiuszy in the family.

Another member was maiden name. These names distinguish between two types of names: terminated S such as Perpern And It was a name of Etruscan origin and also a derivation -As How Patronage ace , Were appellations of origin 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 considerably. Nicknames were initially accepted only by patrician families. The first nicknames associated with the main activities in these times of the Romans.
Nicknames are very often associated with plants, which only reinforces our conviction in the original agricultural nature of Roman society. For example, among Cyceronów took its name from the pea ( Cicer), and Fabiuszy from the bean field ( aba.) However, other nicknames are associated with the characteristics of family members, such as Cincinnatus- curly or Kato- Smart.
Nickname mainly distinguish between individual branches belonging to the family. nickname, because, for example, the type of definition ( Barbatus, Claudus), one could also determine the origin of man ( Gallus Ligus, Sabunus). Sometimes point to certain personal characteristics, How Nazo or Capito Or indicate a person's temperament ( Severus, Benignus.)

In women, the naming issue was much easier. Daughters always called their father's patronymic as a woman, for example, Caesar's daughter Julius named Julia. Sometimes added personal name, which is usually a digit for example: Tertia(Third), or adjective: Major(for adults) and Minor (Junior group).
The women about to get married do not change the name, and in addition accept the husband's nickname, for example: Libya Augusta. During the Empire, women often carry double name his 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 of the time stopped to serve their former name. Sometimes the names were replaced by an indication of where she was a slave, for example: Sirus(With Syria). They are sometimes called the boy's slaves ( Puer) and was assimilated with the name of the owner, such as: Tit Puer.
In the case of freedmen, the situation was somewhat different. Friedman adopted the last name, 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 noted to whom they owe their freedom, for example: Mark Livy, Augustae Libertus.