This was the first of the three names of a Roman citizen. It was the personal name used only by members of the family. Praenomina were only borne by men and there were only about twenty altogether with only a dozen common ones. These were often written as initials or abbreviations (shown in brackets). Brothers were often given the same praenomen but would have a different cognomen.
| Amulius | Appius (App)# | Aulus (A) | Caius (C) | Cnaeus (Cn) | Decimus (D) |
| Domitius | Flavus | Gaius (G) | Galerius | Gnaeus | Gneo |
| Julius | Kaeso | Lucius (L) | Mamercus* | Manius (M') | Marcus (M) |
| Numerius (N) | Olus~ | Oppius | Publius (P) | Quintus (Q) | Servius (Ser) |
| Sextus (Sex) | Spurius (Sp) | Tiberius (Ti) | Titus (T) | Vibius |
* only used by the Aemilia Lepidii
# only used by the Claudii
~ rare form of Aulus
Sometimes a certain patrician gens or clan would only use certain praenomina so somebody with a different one was not likely to be a genuine member of a patrician family but may have been descended from a freed slave who had taken the family nomen.
| Cornelii | Gnaeus, Lucius, Publius |
| Julii | Gaius, Lucius, Sextus |
| Licinii | Lucius, Marcus, Publius |
| Pompeii | Gnaeus, Quintus, Sextus |
| Servilii | Gnaeus, Quintus |
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.