NUMINISM

Choosing A Roman Name

Many Numinists choose to select a Roman name, much as the new Hindu devotees do, or as the Jews choose a 'temple name' for use in religious situations. The Numinist may choose to make this a legal, permanent name, or simply a 'temple name'. Here is some information about Roman names to help with the selection process.

A Roman's name usually will have at least three elements:

The Praenomen - the "first" name; perhaps originally the only given name. Versus modern Western practice, relatively unimportant and generally quite colorless. We know of fewer than 100 praenomina in use; the Roman upper classes generally limited themselves to 15 or so common praenomina: see below for a list of the most common praenomina with their abbreviated forms.

The Nomen (nomen gentilicium) - the "family" name, designating the person's gens ("clan"). The most important of a Roman's names. Often end in -ius; built off a praenomen, a place name, or a cognomen.

The Cognomen - served the purpose of distinguishing a particular branch of a gens (e.g., M. Tullius Cicero - a member of the "Ciceronian" branch of the "Tullian" gens; in the case of P. Licinius Crassus Dives we find that the "Crassus" branch has been further subdivided into a "Dives" sub-branch).

Agnomina - were additional cognomina which served the purposes of
1. distinguishing between two persons with the same name.
2. giving honor for an accomplishment(e.g., P. Cornelius Scipio acquired the additional cognomen "Africanus" after his victory in the Second Punic War).
3) or, in the case of someone who had been adopted and had assumed the name of his adoptive father, indicating the gens into which he originally had been born (e.g., C. Octavius, on being adopted by C. Julius Caesar, becomes C. Julius Caesar Octavianus).

With the addition of agnomina, some Roman names could become quite unwieldy: e.g., P. Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus Numantinus.

Friends would use the nomen or cognomen in addressing one another: hence we refer to M. Tullius Cicero as "Cicero", while Chaucer will call the same man "Tullyus." In a formal address one would employ the praenomen with the nomen (or with the cognomen). If one was being extremely formal one would say (e.g.): Marcus Tullius Marci filius Marci nepos Cornelia tribu Cicero ("Marcus Tullius Cicero, son of Marcus, grandson of Marcus, of the Cornelian tribe"). To look a particular Roman up in a dictionary, index, etc., look under the nomen or under the first specifying cognomen.

Women routinely had only one name: a feminine form of the nomen (or, occasionally, the cognomen) that indicated her gens. Thus, all of M. Tullius Cicero's daughters would have the name Tullia; all of C. Julius Caesar's daughters would have the name Julia; etc.

Slaves also had only one name, either their original name (especially if Greek) or a name indicative of their country of origin, their character, appearance, etc.

Freedmen (former slaves) took the praenomen and nomen of their former masters and added their own name (or an appropriate adjective) as their cognomen. M. Tullius Cicero's slave Tiro, on gaining his freedom, becomes M. Tullius Tiro; Terentius Lucanus' slave, born in the Roman province of Africa, becomes P. Terentius Afer ("the African"); etc.

To create a Roman name choose one name from each of the faollowing lists.

List of Praenomina

A.	Aulus
Ap(p).	Appius
C.	Gaius
Cn.	Gnaeus
D.	Decimus
L.	Lucius
M.	Marcus
M'.	Manius
N.	Numerius
P.	Publius
Q.	Quintus
Ser.	Servius
Sex.	Sextus
Sp.	Spurius
T.	Titus
Ti.	Tiberius

Here is a list of ...
Roman Nomina

Roman Cognomina



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