Roman Names

Nomen (Family Name)

This was also called the 'nomen gentilicum' or clan name and was the second of the three names of a Roman citizen. It took the feminine case - gens Julia, gens Claudia - and the plurals would be Julii, Claudii. It is sometimes difficult to tell from sources whether a name is a nomen or cognomen so it is possible that some of these are in the wrong list but every effort has been made to be accurate. Feminine forms took an '-a' instead of the masculine '-us' ending.

Patricians

These families had been important citizens even before Rome had kings and retained their prestige under the Republic despite the increase in the numbers of new noble families raised above plebeian level by producing a consul. Some offices, such as certain priesthoods or senatorial positions, could only be held by patricians.

Female

The '-ina' and '-illa' endings could added to the nomen to distinguish between an elder and younger daughter or perhaps an aunt and niece.

Numbers

Another way of distinguishing between two members of the family with the same name was to use numbers as cognomina.

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This collection of names compiled by Kate Monk. Copyright January 1997, Kate Monk. Last updated September, 98. Copies may be made for personal use only.

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