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 look at 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 of genuine interest to historians so far.
Name structure
In ancient times, in humans, as now, the name consisted of three parts. Only if we used to call a person by last name, first name and patronymic, did the Romans have slightly different characteristics.
The first name in Roman sounded like a name. It was similar to our Petah, Misham. There were very few such names - only eighteen. They were used only for men and were rarely pronounced; in a letter they were often indicated with one or two capital letters. That is, nobody wrote them completely. Until today, few meanings of these names have reached. Yes, and Appiev, Gneev and Kvintov these days are difficult to find among children.
The ancient Roman names had the most important second part - nomen. This name corresponded to the genus. Just like we use surnames now. At the dawn of the Empire, it was customary to add the suffix - jus 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 - it was an ordinary nickname, received during life for merit or just like that. It was called cognitive. Often in the next generation, the name-cognomogen was already used as a nomen, that is, it denoted a gender.
But even in this situation, it often happened that the boys brothers had the same name. To distinguish them, one had to add one fourth, the agnomen. She was given for special merits, victories and success. It used to be called simply - red, fat, tall, etc.
Roman names for men
In most cases, the names of the genera have come down to our days. 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 names for men and their meanings.
- Agelast is gloomy, dull.
- Agneobarb - having a red beard.
- Albin is fair-haired.
- Beast - cruel, bestial.
- Brutus is a dull-witted one.
- Varron is a club-footed, bent-legged.
- Dentat - smiling, with beautiful teeth.
- Calv - hair-losing, bald.
- Cald is a bore.
- Cato is cunning, dodgy.
- Lenat is sanctified.
- Lentulus - slow, leisurely.
- Maxim is a great, powerful one.
- Manzin - offended by life.
- Margarite is as precious as pearls.
- Metellus is freedom-loving.
- Nason - with a big nose.
- Pulhr - beautiful, handsome.
- Rufus is red.
- Saturninus - under the auspices of Saturn.
- Silon - with a snub nose.
- The verse is mysterious, thoughtful.
- Eburn is strong, unshakable.
Roman female names
The girls did not have a prenomen and a cognomogen. They had no proper names at all. Affiliation could only be recognized by gender. If the Yuliev family had three daughters, then all of them were called Julia with one difference - the eldest, second, third, etc. By the way, the second was called Second, Tertia - the third, Minor - the youngest, Major - the eldest.
When a woman got married, the nomen of the husband were added to her generic meaning. For example, the wife of Mark Livius Druze went down in history as Livia Drusilla. Roman female names practically did not reach our days.
Examples of the most famous female names
Aphrodite, Alala, Apollonia, Atanasia, Alekto, Aleksina, Ariadna, Arcadia, Aglaya, Barbara, Dareia, Dana, Demeter, Dorsia, Zephyra, Xenovia, Zekla, Iris, John, Ismem, Callisto, Collidora, Cybele, Xantia, Ks Klefyo, Margarites, Media, Medusa, Melissa, Maya, Narcissus, Olympias, Ophelia, Parthenia, Perenike, Rhea, Sousanna, Selena, Sofia, Sapphire, Sophronia, Theodore, Trios, Themis, Hekuba, Chrysheis, Chara, Era, Chara, Era Erlia, Elizabeth, Echo, Utalia, Euphrosinus.
Slaves and freedmen
Initially, slaves were not called at all. With the growth of slavery, it was necessary to distinguish all subjects and then the place of origin of the slave was used. Most often they were Greeks, Dacians, Koreans, or simply 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 and six, or even more, components. Soon, it became completely uncomfortable. Especially among the imperial nobility. Names of Roman origin often echoed among themselves, 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 Augustus.
In fact, his name was Guy Julius Caesar Octavian, as he was adopted by the great emperor. But, having come to power, he missed the first three parts, and soon added the title Augustus (as a benefactor of the state) to his name.
Augustus Octavian had three daughters of Julia. Having no heir boys, he had to adopt grandchildren, who were also called Julius Caesars. But since they were only grandchildren, they retained their names 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 Agripe, having founded their clans. Thus, there is a tendency to reduce the name and the disappearance of the need for parts of nomen and koglomen.
An abundance of generic names is very easy to get confused. Therefore, Roman names are the most difficult to recognize in the world.