Praenomen
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<onlyinclude>A ''praenomen'', the first part of a [[Roman name]], is a personal name which distinguishes an individual from other members of the same family. The ''praenomen'' is not normally used on its own: normally only close relatives or very close friends call each other by their ''praenomen''.</onlyinclude> | <onlyinclude>A ''praenomen'', the first part of a [[Roman name]], is a personal name which distinguishes an individual from other members of the same family. The ''praenomen'' is not normally used on its own: normally only close relatives or very close friends call each other by their ''praenomen''.</onlyinclude> | ||
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| + | There were few ''praenomina'' in active use. The seventeen listed here account for 99% of all Roman names. <ref name="salway">Salway, B. (1994), "What's in a name? A Survey of Roman Onomastic Practice from 700 B.C. to A. D. 700", The Journal of Roman Studies, vol. 84, pp. 124-145 {{JSTOR|300873}}</ref> | ||
==Abbreviations== | ==Abbreviations== | ||
Revision as of 03:54, 5 August 2008
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List of Standard Praenomina
These are the standard praenomina,
from most common to least common.
| Abbreviation | Male Form |
Female Form |
| C. | Gaius | Gaia |
| L. | Lucius | Lucia |
| M. | Marcus | Marca |
| P. | Publius | Publia |
| Q. | Quintus | Quinta |
| T. | Titus | Tita |
| Ti. | Tiberius | Tiberia |
| Sex. | Sextus | Sexta |
| A. | Aulus | Aula |
| D. | Decimus | Decima |
| Cn. | Gnaeus | Gnaea |
| Sp. | Spurius | Spuria |
| M'. | Manius | Mania |
| Ser. | Servius | Servia |
| Ap. | Appius | Appia |
| N. | Numerius | Numeria |
A praenomen, the first part of a Roman name, is a personal name which distinguishes an individual from other members of the same family. The praenomen is not normally used on its own: normally only close relatives or very close friends call each other by their praenomen.
There were few praenomina in active use. The seventeen listed here account for 99% of all Roman names. [1]
Abbreviations
Note that each of the common praenomina, and some of the rare ones, has a standard abbreviation. Each abbreviation is unique to that praenomen: a praenomen cannot be abbreviated simply by using its first letter. For example, T. always means Titus, never Tiberius; Ti. always means Tiberius, never Titus.
Most of the time praenomina are abbreviated rather than written out in full, so M. Tullius Cicero is normally seen rather than Marcus Tullius Cicero.
Inheritance
Many gentes and families used only a handful of praenomina. The first child of a marriage was almost always given the same praenomen as the father; the second child was given a different praenomen, perhaps the same one as an uncle or grandfather, for example.
Thus the elder son of P. Cornelius Scipio was named P. Cornelius Scipio (Africanus); his younger son was named L. Cornelius Scipio (Asiagenus) after his grandfather.
References
- ↑ Salway, B. (1994), "What's in a name? A Survey of Roman Onomastic Practice from 700 B.C. to A. D. 700", The Journal of Roman Studies, vol. 84, pp. 124-145 (Retrieve from JSTOR)
Personal Names in the Roman World
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