Editing Roman naming conventions (section)

==''Tria nomina''==
The three types of names that have come to be regarded as quintessentially Roman were the ''praenomen, nomen'', and ''cognomen''. Together, these were referred to as the ''tria nomina''. Although not all Romans possessed three names, the practice of using multiple names having different functions was a defining characteristic of Roman culture that distinguished citizens from foreigners.

===Praenomen===
{{main|Praenomen}}
The praenomen was a true [[given name|personal name]], chosen by a child's parents, and bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'', or "day of [[lustratio|lustration]]", a [[ritual purification]] performed on the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the birth of a boy.{{efn-lr|In his treatise, ''De Praenominibus'', Probus cites [[Quintus Mucius Scaevola Pontifex|Quintus Mucius Scaevola]], an authority on [[Roman law]], for the proposition that boys did not receive a praenomen before assuming the ''[[Toga]] virilis'', signifying the transition into adulthood, and that girls did not receive a praenomen before marriage.<ref name="De Praenominibus"/> But this appears to refer to some sort of formal ceremony in which a praenomen was granted or confirmed, rather than the original act of naming. The funerary inscriptions of many Romans who died in childhood conclusively demonstrate that [[children of Ancient Rome|Roman children]] had praenomina.<ref name="Harper's:Nomen"/>}}  Normally all of the children in a family would have different praenomina.{{efn-lr|As usual, there were exceptions to this policy as well; for instance, among the [[Fabia gens#Fabii Maximi|Fabii Maximi]], several brothers in a single family were all named ''Quintus''; in the first century AD, the [[Flavia gens#Flavii Sabini|Flavii Sabini]] all bore the praenomen ''Titus'', but were distinguished in each generation by the use of different cognomina. Also, because praenomina had grammatical gender, a brother and sister could have the same praenomen, in masculine and feminine forms, and still be easily distinguished.}} Although there was no law restricting the use of specific praenomina,{{efn-lr|A few exceptions are noted by the ancient historians; for example, supposedly no member of the [[Junia gens]] was named ''[[Titus (praenomen)|Titus]]'' or ''[[Tiberius (praenomen)|Tiberius]]'' after two brothers of this name, sons of the consul [[Lucius Junius Brutus]], were put to death for plotting to restore the Roman monarchy. The [[Manlia gens]] is said to have forbidden the use of ''[[Marcus (praenomen)|Marcus]]'' after the condemnation of [[Marcus Manlius Capitolinus]];<ref>[[Livy|Titus Livius]], ''[[Ab Urbe Condita (book)|Ab Urbe Condita]]'' vi. 20.</ref> and after the death of [[Mark Antony|Marcus Antonius]] and the execution of his son, it was decreed that none of the [[Antonia gens|Antonii]] should ever again be named Marcus. However, all of these supposed prohibitions were subsequently broken.}} the choice of the parents was usually governed by custom and family tradition. An eldest son was usually named after his father, and younger sons were named after their father's brothers or other male ancestors. In this way, the same praenomina were passed down in a family from one generation to the next. Not only did this serve to emphasize the continuity of a family across many generations, but the selection of praenomina also distinguished the customs of one gens from another. The patrician gentes in particular tended to limit the number of praenomina that they used far more than the plebeians, which was a way of reinforcing the exclusiveness of their social status.<ref>''[[Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft]]''.</ref>

Of course, there were many exceptions to these general practices. A son might be named in honour of one of his maternal relatives, thus bringing a new name into the gens.<ref>[[Sextus Pompeius Festus]], epitome of [[Marcus Verrius Flaccus]], ''De Verborum Significatu'', ''s.v.'' "Numerius."</ref> Because some gentes made regular use of only three or four praenomina, new names might appear whenever a family had more than three or four sons. Furthermore, a number of the oldest and most influential patrician families made a habit of choosing unusual names; in particular the [[Fabia gens|Fabii]], [[Aemilia gens|Aemilii]], [[Furia gens|Furii]], [[Claudia gens|Claudii]], [[Cornelia gens|Cornelii]], and [[Valeria gens|Valerii]] all used praenomina that were uncommon amongst the patricians, or which had fallen out of general use. In the last two centuries of the Republic, and under the early Empire, it was fashionable for aristocratic families to revive older praenomina.<ref name="OCD:Names"/>

About three dozen Latin praenomina were in use at the beginning of the Republic, although only about eighteen were common. This number fell gradually, until by the first century AD, about a dozen praenomina remained in widespread use, with a handful of others used by particular families.<ref name="Harper's:Nomen"/> The origin and use of praenomina was a matter of curiosity to the Romans themselves; in ''De Praenominibus'', Probus discusses a number of older praenomina and their meanings.<ref name="De Praenominibus"/> Most praenomina were regularly abbreviated, and rarely written in full.<ref name="Harper's:Nomen"/><ref name="Kajava"/> Other praenomina were used by the Oscan, Umbrian, and Etruscan-speaking peoples of Italy, and many of these also had regular abbreviations.{{fact|date = March 2023}} (Lists of praenomina used by the various people of Italy, together with their usual abbreviations, can be found at [[praenomen]].)

Roman men were usually known by their praenomina to members of their family and household, ''[[patronage in ancient Rome|clientes]]'' and close friends; but outside of this circle, they might be called by their nomen, cognomen, or any combination of praenomen, nomen, and cognomen that was sufficient to distinguish them from other men with similar names.<ref name="Harper's:Nomen"/> In the literature of the Republic, and on all formal occasions, such as when a [[Roman Senate|senator]] was called upon to speak, it was customary to address a citizen by praenomen and nomen; or, if this were insufficient to distinguish him from other members of the gens, by praenomen and cognomen.<ref name="OCD:Names"/><ref name="Harper's:Nomen"/>

In imperial times, the praenomen became increasingly confused by the practices of the aristocracy. The [[Roman Emperor|emperors]] usually prefixed ''Imperator'' to their names as a praenomen, while at the same time retaining their own praenomina; but because most of the early emperors were legally adopted by their predecessors, and formally assumed new names, even these were subject to change. Several members of the [[Julio-Claudian dynasty]] exchanged their original praenomina for cognomina, or received cognomina in place of praenomina at birth. An emperor might emancipate or enfranchise large groups of people at once, all of whom would automatically receive the emperor's praenomen and nomen. Yet another common practice beginning in the first century AD was to give multiple sons the same praenomen, and distinguish them using different cognomina; by the second century this was becoming the rule, rather than the exception. Another confusing practice was the addition of the full nomenclature of maternal ancestors to the basic ''tria nomina'', so that a man might appear to have two praenomina, one occurring in the middle of his name.<ref name="Salway"/>

Under the weight of these practices and others, the utility of the praenomen to distinguish between men continued to decline, until only the force of tradition prevented its utter abandonment. Over the course of the third century, praenomina become increasingly scarce in written records, and from the fourth century onward their appearance becomes exceptional. The descendants of those who had been granted citizenship by the ''[[Constitutio Antoniniana]]'' seem to have dispensed with praenomina altogether, and by the end of the western empire, only the oldest Roman families continued to use them.<ref name="OCD:Names"/><ref name="Salway"/>

===Nomen===
The ''[[nomen gentilicium]]'', or "gentile name",{{efn-lr|Although this use of the term ''gentile'' has the same origin as the term used to distinguish non-Jews from the Jewish population, its meaning is purely civil and has nothing to do with ethnic or religious identity; in this use it simply refers to a member of a gens, distinguished by his or her surname, and in this sense the term ''gentile name'' is used today without any religious connotation, despite (or perhaps because of) the use of ''Christian name'' to refer to personal names. In this sense, Romanized Jews could also be gentiles, and gentiles could be Jewish! This is also the origin of the term ''gentleman''; the association of gentlemen with courtesy developed later.}} designated a Roman citizen as a member of a gens. A gens, which may be translated as "clan", constituted an extended Roman group of individuals, all of whom shared the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor. Particularly in the early Republic, the gens functioned as a state within the state, observing its own sacred rites and establishing private laws, which were binding on its members, although not on the community as a whole.<ref>''[[Oxford Classical Dictionary]]'', 2nd Ed. (1970), "Gens."</ref>

===Cognomen===
{{main|Cognomen}}
[[File:N26FabiusCunctator.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus]], surnamed "Cunctator".<br>''Maximus'' was the branch of the [[Fabia gens]] to which he belonged; ''Verrucosus'' was a personal cognomen referring to a wart above his upper lip; ''Cunctator'' a ''cognomen ex virtute'' referring to his delaying strategy against [[Hannibal]].<br>Statue at [[Schönbrunn Palace]], [[Vienna]]]]
The cognomen, the third element of the ''tria nomina'', began as an additional personal name. It was not unique to Rome, but Rome was where the cognomen flourished, as the development of the gens and the gradual decline of the praenomen as a useful means of distinguishing between individuals made the cognomen a useful means of identifying both individuals and whole branches of Rome's leading families. In the early years of the Republic, some aristocratic Romans had as many as three cognomina, some of which were hereditary, while others were personal.<ref name="OCD:Names"/>

Like the nomen, cognomina could arise from any number of factors: personal characteristics, habits, occupations, places of origin, heroic exploits, and so forth. One class of cognomina consisted largely of archaic praenomina that were seldom used by the later Republic, although as cognomina these names persisted throughout Imperial times.<ref name="Chase">George Davis Chase, "The Origin of Roman Praenomina", in ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'', vol. VIII (1897).</ref> Many cognomina had unusual terminations for Latin names, ending in ''-a, -o'', or ''-io'', and their meanings were frequently obscure, even in antiquity; this seems to emphasize the manner in which many cognomina originally arose from nicknames. The ''-ius'' termination typical of Latin nomina was generally not used for cognomina until the fourth century AD, making it easier to distinguish between nomina and cognomina until the final centuries of the western empire.<ref name="Salway"/>

Unlike the nomen, which was passed down unchanged from father to son, cognomina could appear and disappear almost at will. They were not normally chosen by the persons who bore them, but were earned or bestowed by others, which may account for the wide variety of unflattering names that were used as cognomina. Doubtless some cognomina were used ironically, while others continued in use largely because, whatever their origin, they were useful for distinguishing among individuals and between branches of large families. New cognomina were coined and came into fashion throughout Roman history.<ref name="OCD:Names"/>

Under the Empire, the number of cognomina increased dramatically. Where once only the most noble patrician houses used multiple surnames, Romans of all backgrounds and social standing might bear several cognomina. By the third century, this had become the norm amongst freeborn Roman citizens. The question of how to classify different cognomina led the grammarians of the fourth and fifth centuries to designate some of them as ''agnomina''.<ref name="Harper's:Nomen"/>

For most of the Republic, the usual manner of distinguishing individuals was through the binomial form of praenomen and nomen. But as the praenomen lost its value as a distinguishing name, and gradually faded into obscurity, its former role was assumed by the versatile cognomen, and the typical manner of identifying individuals came to be by nomen and cognomen; essentially one form of binomial nomenclature was replaced by another, over the course of several centuries. The very lack of regularity that allowed the cognomen to be used as either a personal or a hereditary surname became its strength in imperial times; as a hereditary surname, a cognomen could be used to identify an individual's connection with other noble families, either by descent, or later by association. Individual cognomina could also be used to distinguish between members of the same family; even as siblings came to share the same praenomen, they bore different cognomina, some from the paternal line, and others from their maternal ancestors.<ref name="Salway"/>

Although the nomen was a required element of Roman nomenclature down to the end of the western empire, its usefulness as a distinguishing name declined throughout imperial times, as an increasingly large portion of the population bore nomina such as ''Flavius'' or ''Aurelius'', which had been granted ''en masse'' to newly enfranchised citizens. As a result, by the third century the cognomen became the most important element of the Roman name, and frequently the only one that was useful for distinguishing between individuals. In the later empire, the proliferation of cognomina was such that the full nomenclature of most individuals was not recorded, and in many cases the only names surviving in extant records are cognomina.<ref name="Salway"/>

By the sixth century, traditional Roman cognomina were frequently prefixed by a series of names with Christian religious significance. As Roman institutions vanished, and the distinction between nomen and cognomen ceased to have any practical importance, the complex system of cognomina that developed under the later empire faded away. The people of the western empire reverted to single names, which were indistinguishable from the cognomina that they replaced; many former praenomina and nomina also survived in this way.<ref name="Salway"/>

====Agnomen====
{{main|Agnomen}}
The proliferation of cognomina in the later centuries of the Empire led some grammarians to classify certain types as ''agnomina''. This class included two main types of cognomen: the ''cognomen ex virtute'', and cognomina that were derived from nomina, to indicate the parentage of Romans who had been adopted from one gens into another. Although these names had existed throughout Roman history, it was only in this late period that they were distinguished from other cognomina.<ref name="Harper's:Nomen"/>

=====''Cognomina ex virtute''=====
The ''cognomen ex virtute'' was a surname derived from some virtuous or heroic episode attributed to the bearer. Roman history is filled with individuals who obtained cognomina as a result of their exploits: [[Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis]], who commanded the Roman army at the [[Battle of Lake Regillus]]; [[Gaius Marcius Coriolanus]], who captured the city of [[Corioli]]; [[Marcus Valerius Corvus]], who defeated a giant [[Gauls|Gaul]] in single combat, aided by a raven; [[Titus Manlius Torquatus (consul 347 BC)|Titus Manlius Torquatus]], who likewise defeated a Gaulish giant, and took his name from the [[torc|torque]] that he claimed as a prize; [[Scipio Africanus|Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus]], who carried the [[Second Punic War]] to Africa, and defeated [[Hannibal]].{{fact|date = March 2023}} The examples most often described in scholarship on the subject{{what|date = March 2023}} regarding this class of cognomen come from the period of the Republic, centuries before the concept of the ''agnomen'' was formulated.{{fact|date = March 2023}}

=====Adoptive cognomina=====
{{main|Adoption in ancient Rome}}
Adoption was a common and formal process in Roman culture. Its chief purpose had nothing to do with providing homes for children; it was about ensuring the continuity of family lines that might otherwise become extinct. In early Rome, this was especially important for the patricians, who enjoyed tremendous status and privilege compared with the plebeians. Because few families were admitted to the patriciate after the [[Overthrow of the Roman monarchy|expulsion of the kings]], while the number of plebeians continually grew, the patricians continually struggled to preserve their wealth and influence. A man who had no sons to inherit his property and preserve his family name would adopt one of the younger sons from another family. In time, as the plebeians also acquired wealth and gained access to the offices of the Roman state, they too came to participate in the Roman system of adoption.<ref name="Harper's:Adoption">''[[Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities|Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities]]'', Second Edition, [[Harry Thurston Peck]], Editor (1897), "Adoption."</ref><ref>''[[Oxford Classical Dictionary]]'', 2nd Ed. (1970), "Adoption."</ref>

Since the primary purpose of adoption was to preserve the name and status of the adopter, an adopted son would usually assume both the praenomen and nomen of his adoptive father, together with any hereditary cognomina, just as an eldest son would have done. However, adoption did not result in the complete abandonment of the adopted son's birth name. The son's original nomen (or occasionally cognomen) would become the basis of a new surname, formed by adding the derivative suffix ''-anus'' or ''-inus'' to the stem. Thus, when a son of [[Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus|Lucius Aemilius Paullus]] was adopted by [[Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus (priest)|Publius Cornelius Scipio]], he became [[Scipio Aemilianus|Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus]]; in his will, the [[Roman dictator|dictator]] [[Julius Caesar|Gaius Julius Caesar]] adopted his grandnephew, Gaius Octavius, who became known as [[Augustus|Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus]].<ref name="OCD:Names"/><ref name="Harper's:Nomen"/><ref name="Harper's:Adoption"/>