Editing Roman naming conventions (section)

===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"/>