Ancient Roman Names: During the regal Roman period, people were referred to with only one name, for instance, Romulus. Later, with the expansion and development of the Roman Empire, a system of binomial nomenclature was established.

These ancient Roman names were used during 700 B.C. to 300 A.D. and were emulated from the Etruscan civilization.

Ancient Roman Male names

The male ancient Rome names comprised of three components, namely praenomen (first name), Nomen (clan name) and cognomen (family name). Cognomen was required on official documents as well as while applying for citizenship.

Roman Nickname

The ancient Romans also had an agnomen which was the nickname. The ancient Roman name was rather lengthy and could also include a filiations names, which would be father’s name, grandfather’s name, and tribal name.

An illustration makes it more cogent. For example, the name, Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus; Publius is the praenomen; Cornelius is the Nomen; Scipio is the cognomen and Africanus is the agnomen.

Ancient Roman female names

The female Roman names were simply the feminine forms of their father’s Nomen. In order to distinguish between two daughters of the same father, the words major and minor were suffixed or an ordinal name was appended to the father’s name. For instance, Antonia Major and Antonio Minor denote the two daughters of Antonius; or Livia Tertia denotes the third daughter of Livius.

Roman Nomenclature

Another feature of the primitive Roman nomenclature was named by the birth order. The eldest son always carried the name of his father. The younger sons were named after their grandfathers or uncles.

Roman Names facts

The ancient Roman name also contained the tribe name. Since in those prehistoric days, the tribe was a vital part of citizenship and the voting was carried out by the tribe. A man belonged to that tribe in which he resided. A tribe was simply a geographic distinction and had nothing to do with ancestry or heredity.

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