What do Roman names mean: interpretation and history of origin. Roman male and female names and their meaning Male names of Roman origin

Roman names have a rich history. Residents Ancient Rome took a very serious attitude towards naming their children. According to a popular proverb of those times, the name is not a subject of disclosure. Therefore, we tried not to say it again. And slaves were completely forbidden to address their masters by name, especially in front of strangers.

In the next article, I propose to talk about Roman names and their features, also looking at examples of beautiful names.

In ancient times, people's names had three components - by analogy with modern times. But if in our Slavic culture it is traditional to use the surname, the first name and patronymic, then the ancient Romans acted somewhat differently. Their named rivers had the following structure:

1. Prenomen- or first name. It was reminiscent of our versions of Alexandrov, Mariy, Petrov and so on. In total, there were about 18 praenomen in Ancient Rome. Moreover, they could only be used by representatives of the stronger sex, and even then mainly in written form and not orally.

Prenomen were denoted by 1-2 capital letters and were not written down in full. To this day, catastrophically few ancient Roman praenomen have survived: Appius, Gnaeus, Quintus, and now, of course, no one calls their babies by them.

1. Nomen– performed the most significant part name. The nomen showed a connection with a certain family; it can be called an analogue of modern Russian surnames. In the dawn of Ancient Rome, the suffix –ius was added to the end of the nomen. The ancient Roman names Antonius, Flavius, Claudius or Valerius are known, from which more modern versions are subsequently derived: Anton, Flavian, Claudius, etc.
2. The last component of names among the Romans is a nickname or cognomen. It was given in honor of certain life achievements or just because. It is interesting that often the next generation could use cognomen as a nomen, to designate the genus.

Despite this, from time to time the brothers in the family received the same names. And in order to somehow distinguish them, another component was added to the name - agnomen. Agnomen shed light on special merits, victories, achievements, but he could also talk about the appearance of his owner - fat, red-haired, short, and so on.

What were boys and girls called in ancient Rome?

It was much easier for the inhabitants of the Ancient Roman Empire to name a newborn daughter than a son. The girl was given her father's surname as a personal name, which is a nomen or nomen + cognomen. For example, the daughter received the name Julia.

At the same time, the Romans did not worry when many daughters were born into their families. The eldest of them was given the corresponding cognomen Major (senior), and the youngest - Minor (that is, the youngest). When more than two daughters appeared, the situation with the eldest and youngest did not change, and all the other girls were given serial names - Sekunda (second) and so on.

When a Roman woman got married, her pronomen remained unchanged, but she should have taken the nomen or cognomen of her husband. For example, when the daughter of the ancient Roman emperor Caesar married his then ally Gnaeus Pompey the Great, she changed her name to Julia Pompeia.

As for newborn male offspring, everything was somewhat more complicated with them. As usual, the eldest son in the family was named after his father. And in order to distinguish two men, they used cognomen, which could be the most common (senior, junior) or were nicknames (Scaevola - left-handed, Crassus - thick-built, Nazika - with a sharp nose) and so on.

The next four sons received names that characterize their family. They were standard for different genealogies: for example, in the Julius family - Lucia, in the Scipione family - Gnaea, and so on.

If more than 4 boys were born in a family, then each next one received a serial number as a personal name: Quintus (fifth), Sextus (sixth), Septimius (seventh). True, over time, numerical names begin to be used as common names and are given regardless of the sequence in which children appear in the family. For example, Sextus Pompey was not the sixth son of Emperor Pompey the Great.

It is also noteworthy that in Ancient Rome they could have banned the use of specific name own to representatives of a certain clan in the event that one of its members has done something shameful. For example, Mark Antony failed to win the war against Octavian Augustus and subsequently the pronomen was prohibited from being used by the Antoni.

Names of slaves and freedmen

Initially, slaves were not given any names at all. When slavery began to expand, the need arose to differentiate workers, so then they began to give improvised names - in the form of the area from which the slave came.

Roman male names: examples of what they mean

Now let's turn directly to the very variants of the ancient Roman names of boys and their brief characteristics.

• Agelast – is gloomy, sad.
• Agneobarbus is the owner of a red beard.
• Albin is a guy with blond hair.
• Besty - characterized by cruelty and bestial habits.
• Brutus is narrow-minded, dull.
• Varro - has clubfoot, crooked legs.
• Dentat – loves to smile, has beautiful teeth.
• Calv - his hair is falling out, he is bald.
• Kald is boring.
• Cato behaves cunningly and resourcefully.
• Lenat - he was consecrated.
• Lentulus is used to acting slowly and deliberately.
• - is great, powerful.
• Mantsin - he was offended by fate.
• Margarite is a precious mineral similar to pearls.
• Metellus loves freedom very much.
• Nazon is the owner of a big nose.
• Pulkhr – is beautiful, stately.
• Rufus is a guy with red hair.
• Saturninus - he is patronized by the god Saturn himself.
• Silon - has a snub nose.
• The verse is characterized by mystery and thoughtfulness.
• Eburn – has great strength and steadfastness.

Roman female names: examples of what they mean

• Aurelia is a girl with golden hair.
• Antonia is the one who enters the battle, competes, the flower.
• – has good health and vitality.
• Virginia - comes from the family of the same name, is a virgin.
• Domitia - comes from a family of the same name, she was tamed and made domestic.
• Cassia is from the family of the same name, there is emptiness inside her.
• Quinctia - from a pedigree with the same name, was born the fifth daughter in the family.
• Claudia has a limp.
• Cornelia is a dogwood plant, a spear made from it.
• Lucretia is from the bloodline with the same name, the one who brings benefits.
• Navia is from the genus of the same name and has many moles.
• Octavia is from the Octavian bloodline.
• Rufiya has red hair.
• Sextia was the sixth born in the family.
• Septimia was the seventh born.
• Servilia - from the same name bloodline, observer, guardian.
• Sergia - born into the Sergiev family.
• Ticinia is the one who names and observes.
• Tullia is from the Tullian bloodline.
• Ulpia - from the Ulpian family tree.
• Fabia – from the same-named pedigree, a bean plant.
• Flavia – has white curls.
• Cecilia - born into the Caecilian family, she does not see.
• – is diligent and acts as a strong competitor.
• – comes from the Yuliev family tree, has curls, was born in the month of July.

In conclusion, I offer an interesting thematic video:

The topic of these names is vast and you can delve into it for a very long time - naming traditions have changed over the course of one and a half millennia, and each clan had its own quirks and customs. But I tried and simplified it all for you into ten interesting points. I think you'll like:

1. The classical name of a Roman citizen consisted of three parts:

The personal name, "prenomen", was given by the parents. It is similar to today's names.

The clan name, “nomen” is something like our surnames. Belonging to an old noble family meant a lot.

An individual nickname, “cognomen”, was often given to a person for some kind of merit (not necessarily good), or was passed down by inheritance.

For example, the most famous Roman, Gaius Julius Caesar, had Gaius as his prenomen, Julius as his nomen, and Caesar as his cognomen. Moreover, he inherited all three parts of his name from his father and grandfather, both of whom had exactly the same name - Gaius Julius Caesar. So “Julius” is not a name at all, but rather a surname!

2. In general, it was a tradition for the eldest son to inherit all his father's names. Thus, he also took over the status and titles of his parent, continuing his work. The remaining sons were usually given different prenomen, so as not to confuse the children. As a rule, they were called the same as their father's brothers.

But they only bothered with the first four sons. If more of them were born, then the rest were simply called by number: Quintus (fifth), Sextus (sixth), Septimus (seventh), etc.

Eventually, due to the continuation of this practice for many years, the number of popular praenomen narrowed from 72 to a small handful of repeated names: Decimus, Gaius, Caeso, Lucius, Marcus, Publius, Servius and Titus were so popular that they were usually abbreviated with just the first letter . Everyone immediately understood what it was about.

3. The society of Ancient Rome was clearly divided into plebeians and patricians. And although there were sometimes cases where families of distinguished plebeians achieved aristocratic status, a much more common method of social advancement was adoption into a noble family.

Usually this was done to prolong the lineage of an influential person, which means that the adopted person had to take the name of the new parent. At the same time, his previous name turned into a nickname-cognomen, sometimes in addition to the existing cognomen of his adoptive father.

Thus, Gaius Julius Caesar adopted in his will his grandnephew, Gaius Octavius ​​Furius, and he, having changed his name, began to be called Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian. (Later, as he seized power, he added several more titles and nicknames.)

4. If a person did not inherit the cognomen from his father, then he spent the first years of his life without it until he somehow distinguished himself from his relatives.

During the late Republic, people often chose out-of-fashion praenomen as cognomen. For example, at the dawn of the Roman state there was a popular praenomen "Agrippa". As the centuries passed, its popularity waned, but the name was revived as a cognomen among some influential families of the late Republican period.

A successful cognomen was fixed for many generations, creating a new branch in the family - this was the case with Caesar in the Julian family. Also, each family had its own traditions regarding which kongnomen its members appropriated.

5. All Roman names had masculine and feminine forms. This extended not only to personal praenomen, but also to surnames-nomens and nicknames-cognomens. For example, all women from the Julian clan were called Julias, and those who had the cognomen Agrippa were called Agrippinas.

When getting married, a woman did not take her husband’s nomen, so it was difficult to confuse her with other family members.

6. But personal names, praenomen, were rarely used among women of the late Republic. And Cognomen too. Perhaps this was due to the fact that women did not take part in the public life of Rome, so there was no need for outsiders to distinguish between them. Be that as it may, most often, even in noble families, daughters were called simply the feminine form of their father's nomen.

That is, all the women in the Yuli family were Yulia. It was easy for parents to name their daughter, but others didn’t need it (until she got married). And if there were two daughters in the family, then they were called Yulia the Elder and Yulia the Younger. If three, then Prima, Second and Tertius. Sometimes the eldest daughter could be called "Maxima".

7. When a foreigner acquired Roman citizenship - usually upon completion military service- he usually took the name of his patron, or, if he was a freed slave, then the name of his former master.

During the period of the Roman Empire there were many cases when, by imperial decree, citizens immediately became huge amount Human. By tradition, they all took the name of the emperor, which caused considerable embarrassment.

For example, the Edict of Caracalla (this emperor received his cognomen from the name of the Gallic clothing - a long robe, for which he introduced fashion) made all citizens of Rome free people on its vast territory. And all these new Romans accepted the imperial nomen Aurelius. Of course, after such actions, the meaning of these names greatly decreased.

8. Imperial names are generally something special. The longer the emperor lived and ruled, the more names he collected. These were mainly cognomen and their later variety, agnomen.

For example, full name Emperor Claudius was Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus.

Over time, "Caesar Augustus" became not so much a name as a title - it was adopted by those who sought imperial power.

9. Beginning with the early empire, praenomen began to fall out of favor, and were largely replaced by cognomen. This was partly due to the fact that there were few prenomen in use (see point 2), and family traditions increasingly dictated that all sons be named the father’s prenomen. Thus, from generation to generation, praenomen and nomen remained the same, gradually turning into a complex “surname”.

At the same time, it was possible to roam around on kongnomen, and after the 1st - 2nd centuries AD, they became real names in our understanding.

10. Starting from the 3rd century AD, the prenomen and nomen in general began to be used less and less. This was partly due to the fact that a bunch of people with the same names appeared in the empire - people who received citizenship en masse as a result of the imperial decree (see point 7) and their descendants.

Since cognomen had become a more personal name by this time, people preferred to use it.

The last documented use of the Roman nomen was in the early 7th century.

a. Praenomen

The Romans used a small number of personal names; as a rule, they were of such ancient origin that in the classical era the significance of most of them was forgotten. In inscriptions, personal names were almost always written abbreviated. The most common praenomina:

Less commonly used were praenomina:

The remaining rare praenomina were usually written in full: Agripra, Ancus, Annius, Aruns, Atta, Cossus, Denter, Eppius, Faustus, Fertor, Herius, Hospolis, Hostus, Lar, Marius, Mesius, Mettus, Minatius, Minius, Nero, Novius, Numa , Opiter, Opiavus, Ovius, Pacvius (Paquius), Paullus, Percennius (Pescennius), Petro, Plancus, Plautus, Pompo, Popidius, Postumus, Primus, Proculus, Retus, Salvius, Secundus, Sertor, Statius, Servius, Tertius, Tirrus , Trebius, Tullus, Turus, Volero, Volusus, Vopiscus.

Often the eldest son received his father's praenomen. In 230 BC. e. this tradition was consolidated by a decree of the Senate, so that the father's praenomen began, as a rule, to pass to the eldest son.

In some clans a limited number of personal names were used. For example, the Cornelius Scipios had only Gnaeus, Lucius and Publius, the Claudius Nero had only Tiberius and Decimus, the Domitius Ahenobarbi had only Gnaeus and Lucius.

The criminal's personal name could be forever excluded from the family to which he belonged; for this reason, the name Lucius was not used in the Claudian family, and the name Mark in the Manlian family. By decree of the Senate, the name Mark was forever excluded from the Antony family after the fall of the triumvir Mark Antony.

b. Nomen

All persons belonging to the same clan had a common generic name, which in the classical era ended in -ius (Caecilius); in republican times the endings -is, -i (Caecilis, Caecili) are also found.

Generic names of non-Roman origin have the following suffixes and endings:

In inscriptions, family names are usually written in full; Only the names of very famous genera were abbreviated:

Most family names are of such ancient origin that their meaning has been forgotten.

From the 1st century BC e., when the prerequisites for the transition from a republican form of government to autocracy appeared in Rome, those who seized supreme power increasingly began to show a tendency to justify their rights to power by their descent from ancient kings and heroes. Julius Caesar, trying to find some legal and moral justification for his ambitious aspirations, while still a young man, uttered the following words at the funeral of his aunt Julia and his wife Cornelia: “The family of my aunt Julia goes back through her mother to the kings, and through her father to the immortal gods: for from Ancus Marcius come the Marcii Rexes (= kings), whose name her mother bore, and from the goddess Venus comes the Julius family, to which our family belongs (Jupiter - Venus - Aeneas - Yule - the Julius family. That is why our family is endowed with inviolability,). like kings, who in power are above all people, and in reverence, like gods, to whom even the kings themselves are subject."().

V. Cognomen

The third name, cognomen, was an individual nickname, which was often passed on to descendants and turned into the name of a branch of the clan.

The presence of cognomen is not required. In some plebeian genera (Marii, Antoniev, Octavian, Sertorii, etc.), cognomina, as a rule, were absent.

Since the father's praenomen passed to the eldest son, in order to distinguish the son from the father, it was necessary to use a third name. The inscriptions include Lucius Sergius the First, Quintus Aemilius the Second; in one inscription the grandfather, son and grandson are named Quintus Fulvius Rusticus, Quintus Fulvius Attianus and Quintus Fulvius Carisianus ().

Cognomina arose much later than personal and generic names, so their meaning is clear in most cases.

Cognomina can talk about the origin of the clan (the Fufii moved to Rome from the Campanian town of Cales and therefore had the cognomen Calenus), about memorable events (the cognomen Scaevola “left-handed” appeared in the plebeian clan of the Mucii after in 508 BC. during the war with the Etruscans, Gaius Mucius burned his hand on the fire of a brazier, which shocked the enemies and their king Porsenna), about appearance (Crassus - fat, Laetus - fat, Macer - thin, Celsus - tall, Paullus - short, Rufus - red , Strabo - cross-eyed, Nasica - sharp-nosed, etc.), about character (Severus - cruel, Probus - honest, Lucro - glutton, etc.).

There were cases when one person had two cognomina, the second cognomen was called agnomen.

The appearance of the second cognomen is due in part to the fact that the eldest son often inherited all three of his father's names, and thus there were several people with the same names in one family. For example, the famous orator Marcus Tullius Cicero's father and son were also Marcus Tullius Cicero.

Agnomen was most often a personal nickname if the cognomen was hereditary. For example, Lucius Aemilius Paullus received the nickname Macedonicus for his victory over the Macedonian king Perseus in 168 BC. e. The dictator Sulla himself added agnomen Felix (happy) to his name, so that his full name became Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix. Agnomen Felix changed from a personal nickname to a hereditary one (consul 52 AD Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix).

As a rule, members of ancient and noble families, numbering many branches and cognomina, had agnomina. In such genera, cognomen sometimes almost merged with nomen and was used inseparably with it to name the genus. The famous plebeian family of the Caecilii had an ancient cognomen Metellus, the meaning of which is forgotten. This cognomen seemed to merge with the name of the genus, which became known as Caecilia Metella. Naturally, almost all members of this genus had agnomen.

The patrician family of Cornelii had many branches. One of the members of this family received the nickname Scipio (rod, stick), because he was the guide of his blind father and served him as if instead of a staff (). Cognomen Scipio stuck with his descendants; over time, the Cornelia Scipios took a prominent place in their family and received agnomina. In the 3rd century. BC Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio received the agnomen Asina (donkey) for bringing a donkey loaded with gold to the Forum as collateral. The nickname Asina passed on to his son Publius (Publius Cornelius Scipio Asina). Another representative of the Cornelian Scipioni received the nickname Nasica (sharp-nosed), which passed on to his descendants and began to serve as the name of the branch of the gens, so that in the Cornelian family, the Scipioni Nazis stood out from the Scipioni branch. Naturally, the Nasica Scipios received a third cognomen as an individual nickname, so that the full name could already consist of five names: Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio, consul of 138 BC; the nickname Serapio (from the Egyptian god Serapis) was given to him by the popular tribune Curiatius for his resemblance to a merchant of sacrificial animals.

Some people had two family names; this was the result of adoption. According to Roman customs, the adopted person accepted the praenomen, nomen and cognomen of the one who adopted him, and retained his family name in a modified form with the suffix -an-, which took the place of the second cognomen.

Gaius Octavius, the future emperor Augustus, after his adoption by Gaius Julius Caesar received the name Gaius Iulius Caesar Octavianus.

d. Full name of a Roman citizen in inscriptions

In the inscriptions, as a rule, after the personal and family name, the personal name of the father is indicated, less often - the grandfather and great-grandfather, with the addition of the following words, written abbreviated:

For example, the name of the consul of 42 BC. e. in the inscription it looks like this:
L(ucius) Munatius, L(ucii) f(ilius), L(ucii) n(epos), L(ucii) pron(epos), Plancus. .

"Lucius Munatius Plancus, son of Lucius, grandson of Lucius, great-grandson of Lucius..."

In rare cases, the father's praenomen comes after the cognomen or is absent altogether.

With the full name of a Roman citizen, the tribe (the region of Rome and the surrounding lands) to which he is assigned can be indicated:
L(ucius) Caecilius, L(ucii) f(ilius), Pap(iria tribu), Optatus. .

The names of the tribes are in the inscriptions following abbreviations(urban tribes are marked with an asterisk, all others are rural):

The city where the person mentioned in the inscription is from is rarely indicated:

C(= Gaius) Cornelius, C(= Gaii) f(ilius), Pom(ptina tribu), Dert(ona), Verus. .

“Gaius Cornelius Verus, son of Gaius, from the Pomptine tribe, originally from Dertona...” (Dertona - modern Tortona - a city of the Ligurians in Northern Italy).

B. Women's names

In late republican and imperial times, women did not have personal names, but were called by family names. Since all women in one clan had the same name, within the clan they differed in age. For example, Iulia Maior (= eldest), Iulia Secunda (= second), Iulia Tertia (= third) and so on until the youngest (Iulia Minor).

Noble women could bear their father's cognomen in addition to their clan name; for example, Sulla's wife was the daughter of Lucius Caecilius Metella Dalmatica and was called Caecilia Metella, the wife of Emperor Augustus was the daughter of Marcus Livius Drusus Claudian and was called Livia Drusilla.

In inscriptions with the names of women, the praenomen and cognomen of the father are sometimes indicated, as well as the cognomen of the husband in the genitive case: Caeciliae, Q(uinti) Cretici f(iliae), Metellae, Crassi (uxori). "Caecilia Metella, daughter of Quintus Creticus, (wife of) Crassus."

From the inscription it follows that this woman was the daughter of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus and the wife of Crassus. The inscription is made on a large round mausoleum near Rome on the Appian Way, in which Caecilia Metella, daughter of the consul of 69 BC, wife of Crassus, presumably the eldest son of the triumvir Marcus Licinius Crassus, is buried.

2. Names of slaves

In ancient times, slaves did not have individual names. Legally, slaves were considered children of the master and had the same rights as all members of the family. This is how archaic slave names were formed, composed of the praenomen of the master, the father of the surname, and the words puer (boy, son): Gaipor, Lucipor, Marcipor, Publipor,. Quintipor, Naepor (Gnaeus = Naeos + puer), Olipor (Olos - archaic form of praenomen Aulus).

With the rise of slavery, the need for personal names for slaves arose.

Most often, slaves retained the name they bore when they still lived as free people.

Very often, Roman slaves had names of Greek origin: Alexander, Antigonus, Hippocrates, Diadumen, Museum, Felodespot, Philocalus, Philonicus, Eros, etc. Greek names were sometimes given to barbarian slaves.

The slave's name could indicate his origin or place of birth: Dacus - Dacian, Corinthus - Corinthian; found in the inscriptions are slaves with the name Peregrinus - foreigner.

Instead of a name, a slave could have the nickname “First”, “Second”, “Third”.

It is known that the slave lot in Rome was very difficult, but this did not in any way affect the names of slaves who do not have mocking nicknames. On the contrary, among slaves the names Felix and Faustus (happy) are found. Obviously, these nicknames, which became names, were received only by those slaves whose lives were relatively successful. The inscriptions mention: Faustus, the baker of Tiberius Germanicus, and Faustus, the manager of the perfume shop of his master Popilius, Felix, who was in charge of the jewelry of Gaius Caesar, another Felix, the manager of the estates of Tiberius Caesar, and another Felix, an overseer in the wool weaving workshops of Messalina; the daughters of one slave from the house of Caesars were called Fortunata and Felitsa.

The name Ingenus or Ingenuus (freeborn) is often found among slaves.

Slaves born into slavery have the names Vitalio and Vitalis (tenacious).

There were no hard and fast rules regarding slave names. Therefore, when buying a slave in an official document, his name was accompanied by the clause “or by whatever other name he may be called” (sive is quo alio nomine est). For example: “Maxim, son of Baton, bought a girl named Passia, or whatever other name she was called, about six years old, having received in excess of the contract...” ().

In the inscriptions after the name of the slave, the name of the master in the genitive case and the nature of the slave’s occupation are indicated. After the name of the master there is the word servus (slave), always abbreviated SER, very rarely S. The word “slave” is often completely absent; as a rule, slaves owned by women do not have it. SER can stand between two cognomina lord; There is no strict word order at all.

Euticus, Aug(usti) ser(vus), pictorr. .
"Eutikus, slave of Augustus (= imperial slave), painter."
Eros, cocus Posidippi, ser(vus). .
"Eros, cook, slave of Posidippus."
Idaeus, Valeriae Messalin(ae) supra argentum. .
"Ideus, treasurer of Valeria Messalina."

The sold slave retained the nomen or cognomen of his former master in a modified form with the suffix -an-:

Philargyrus librarius Catullianus. .
"Philargir, scribe purchased from Catullus."

3. Names of freedmen

A slave, freed, received the praenomen and nomen of his master, who became his patron, and retained his former name in the form of cognomen. For example, a slave named Apella, who was set free by Marcus Manneus Primus, became known as Marcus Manneus Apella (). The slave Bassa, freed by Lucius Hostilius Pamphilus, received the name Hostilius Bassa (women did not have praenomina) (). Lucius Cornelius Sulla freed ten thousand slaves who belonged to persons who died during the proscriptions; they all became Lucius Cornelius (the famous “army” of ten thousand Cornelii).

The names of imperial freedmen are often found in the inscriptions: the baker Gaius Julius Eros, the tailor of theatrical costumes Tiberius Claudius Dipterus, the man in charge of the triumphal white clothes of the emperor Marcus Cocceus Ambrosius, the man in charge of the hunting clothes of the emperor Marcus Ulpius Euphrosynus, the man in charge of the reception of the emperor's friends Marcus Aurelius Success, etc.

In the inscriptions between the nomen and cognomen of the freedman, the praenomen of the master is abbreviated and written L or LIB (= libertus), very rarely the tribe is indicated:

Q(uintus) Serto, Q(uinti) l(ibertus), Antiochus, colonus pauper. .
"Quintus Sertorius Antiochus, freedman of Quintus, poor colon."

In rare cases, instead of the former master's praenomen, his cognomen stands:

L(ucius) Nerfinius, Potiti l(ibertus), Primus, lardarius. .
"Lucius Nerfinius Primus, freedman of Potitus, sausage maker."

Freedmen of the imperial house are abbreviated in inscriptions as AVG L (LIB) = Augusti libertus (after nomen or after cognomen):

L(ucio) Aurelio, Aug(usti) lib(erto), Pyladi, pantomimo temporis sui primo. .
"Lucius Aurelius Pylades, imperial freedman, the first pantomime of his time."

Freedmen with two cognomina are rare:

P(ublius) Decimius, P(ublii) l(ibertus), Eros Merula, medicus clinicus, chirurgus, ocularius. .
"Publius Decimius Eros Merula, freedman of Publius, general practitioner, surgeon, ophthalmologist."

Women freedmen are designated in inscriptions by the abbreviation) . L (the inverted letter C represents a remnant of the archaic feminine praenomen Gaia):

L(ucius) Crassicius, (= mulieris) l(ibertus), Hermia, medicus veterinarius. .
"Lucius Crassicius Hermia, female freedman, veterinarian."

Freedmen of cities received the name Publicius (from publicus public) or the name of the city as a family name: Aulus Publicius Germanus, Lucius Saepinius Oriens et Lucius Saepinius Orestus - freedmen of the city of Sepin in Italy ().

Doctors, servants of the deity Aesculapius (Greek: Asclepius), usually bore his name. For example, Gaius Calpurnius Asclepiades is a doctor from Prusa near Olympus, who received Roman citizenship from Emperor Trajan ().

However, the name Asclepius, or Asklepiades, did not always belong to the doctor: in one inscription we find Asklepiades, a slave of Caesar, a marble maker ().

The freedmen of the corporations retained their names in their names: the freedmen of the corporation of quilters and tailors (fabri centonarii) were called Fabricii and Centonii.

4. Names of provincials

Persons of non-Roman origin, along with receiving the right of Roman citizenship, received the praenomen and nomen of the emperor, and retained their former name in the form of cognomen.

For example, the free-born Parthian Migdonius, captured by the Romans, received the right of Roman citizenship and became known as Gaius Julius Migdonius ().

Residents of colonies founded by the Romans bore the name of the founder of the colony. Tacitus mentions the Aedui Julius Sacrovir and the Trevirs Julius Florus and Julius Indus, whose ancestors received the right of Roman citizenship under Julius Caesar (). One inscription from Moesia contains the artisan Julius Herculanus, his wife Julia Vivenia, their children: Julius Marcianus, Julius Marcellinus, Julia Marcia, Julia Heraclia and granddaughter Julia Marcellina ().

African inscriptions include Gaius Julius Pelops Salaput, Master of Carthage (), Marcus Aurelius Ammonion and Aurelius Aletus, residents of the Egyptian city of Hermopolis the Greater. One Spanish inscription mentions the oil pourer Marcus Julius Hermesian, his son Marcus Julius Hermes Frontinian and his grandson also Marcus Julius Hermesian ().

A similar phenomenon took place in the Northern Black Sea region, in particular in Chersonesos. Agepolis, one of the prominent inhabitants of the city, received Roman citizenship under the emperor Titus Flavius ​​Vespasian and became known as Titus Flavius ​​Agepolis. Other Chersonese inscriptions mention Ulpii, who received civil rights under Emperor Marcus Ulpius Trajan ().

5. Names in late republican and imperial times. Names of emperors and their family members

Since the beginning of the empire, some shifts have been outlined in Roman anthroponymy, which are developing in two directly opposite directions: from three traditional names (praenomen, nomen, cognomen) to a reduction or increase in the number of official names.

The prerequisites for this were already laid down in the very nature of the Roman name, when the eldest son (or adopted son) received all three names of his father; in such cases there was a need for additional names.

The full three-term name was rarely used in practice; obviously it seemed unwieldy. Full names were used only in important documents(names of magistrates, owners, witnesses, etc.). From the writings of Roman historians it is clear that usually this or that person was called by an abbreviated name, mainly by nomen or cognomen. Gaius Marius went down in history as Marius, and his opponent Lucius Cornelius Sulla - as Sulla; This happened, obviously, because the Cornelian family was very extensive, while no one else in the Mariev family was famous.

The first step towards shortening official names was taken by the founder of the Roman Empire, who went down in history under the name of Octavian Augustus, although he was never called that during his lifetime. His name was Gaius Octavius. After being adopted by Gaius Julius Caesar, he would have been called Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, but in inscriptions (from 40 BC) he is referred to only as Emperor Caesar. Thus, he actually excluded the generic names Julius and Octavian from his name, and turned the word “emperor” into a personal name. He did this, obviously, because in terms of nobility, the plebeian family of the Octavians could not be compared with the patrician family of the Julians.

In 27 BC. the heir of Julius Caesar added to his official name the title Augustus granted to him by the Senate (from augeo - to increase: giver of benefits, benefactor of the state or exalted by the gods).

Augustus's daughter Julia was married to Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, a major commander and friend of Augustus. The Vipsani family was not distinguished by nobility, and in the inscriptions the son-in-law of Augustus is referred to only as Mark Agrippa (without a family name). Moreover, the family name Vipsanias was not officially transferred to any of the five children of Agrippa and Julia. The eldest daughter, instead of Vipsania the Elder, was called by the family name of her mother - Julia, the youngest daughter - Agrippina, according to her father's cognomen. Vipsania Agrippina was the name of only Agrippa's daughter from his first marriage.

Having no heirs, Augustus adopted two sons, Agrippa and Julia, who, according to Roman tradition, should have retained their father's family name in the form of the cognomen Vipsanian. However, this did not happen; in the inscriptions the adopted ones are called Gaius Caesar and Lucius Caesar. After their early death, Augustus adopted two more in 4: the eldest son of his wife Livia Drusilla from her first marriage and the third son of Agrippa and Julia.

In her first marriage, Livia Drusilla was married to Tiberius Claudius Nero, with whom she had two sons. The eldest inherited all three names of his father, and the younger, as Suetonius writes, was first called Decimus, and then Nero (). Consequently, he was first Decimus Claudius Nero, and then became Nero Claudius Drusus (the cognomen Drusus belonged to the father of Livia Drusilla, whose name was Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus). The names of the children of Livia Drusilla were abbreviated as Tiberius (the future emperor) and Drusus (the father of the future emperor Claudius).

The full name of Agrippa's third son, born after his father's death, should have been Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Postumus. However, Suetonius calls him Agrippa () and Marcus Agrippa (), and Tacitus calls him Agrippa Postumus ().

After their adoption, they became officially known as Tiberius Julius Caesar and Agrippa Julius Caesar. Unlike the first pair of adopted children, they received the family name Julius; as personal names, they retained the names that they were usually called, and Agrippa passed from cognomen to praenomen.

At the same time, at the request of Augustus, Tiberius adopted his nephew (the son of his younger brother Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus the Elder); the adopted son became known as Germanicus Julius Caesar (he went down in history under the name Germanicus). Praenomen Germanicus was formed from cognomen.

Tiberius's own son began to be called Drusus Julius Caesar (in history he is known as Drusus the Younger), his praenomen Drusus was formed from the cognomen of his uncle Nero Claudius Drusus.

Thus, we can note the presence of two trends: the transition of cognomen to praenomen (Nero, Drusus, Agrippa) () and the refusal to use nomen and cognomen, in which the former nomen is preserved (Julius, Octavian, Vipsanian, Claudian).

Obviously, Augustus was ashamed of his Octavian ancestors and Vipsanian relatives, but did not want to be reproached for this, and completely crossed out the family names from himself and from the first couple of adopted children. By the time of the adoption of the second couple, Augustus's power had probably strengthened so much that he seemed to remember the existence of family names and gave the second couple the nomen Julius, but without the cognomen Claudian and Vipsanian (the seedy Vipsanians could not stand next to the famous ancient Claudii).

The main point is that Augustus actually gave impetus to the arbitrary name change.

Since the time of Augustus, the omission of the family name among the Julians has become, as it were, a tradition, and although those adopted in 4 AD received a nomen, in the inscriptions Germanicus is sometimes called simply Germanicus Caesar, and the son of Tiberius Drusus the Younger is Drusus Caesar.

Tiberius, having become emperor, was called only without a nomen: TI CAESAR.

The family name of the grandson of Tiberius (son of Drusus the Younger) was missing: TI CAESAR.

The sons of Germanicus were officially called NERO IVLIVS CAESAR (or NERO CAESAR) and DRVSVS CAESAR; the youngest son of Germanicus, Emperor Caligula, was called C CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS (very rarely IMP C CAESAR).

With the assassination of Caligula, the Julian dynasty ended, and power passed to the Claudii. It is characteristic that all Claudians retain the nomen, apparently in order to distinguish them from the Julios, since the praenomina and cognomina of the Julios and Claudii were the same.

The first emperor in the Claudian family was the grandson of Livia Drusilla, wife of Augustus, the youngest son of Drusus the Elder, who was called Tiberius Claudius Drusus Germanicus. Having become emperor, he took the name Tiberius Claudius Augustus Germanicus (he went down in history under the name Claudius).

Claudius married (for the fourth time) his niece Agrippina the Younger (daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder, Augustus's own granddaughter) and adopted her son from his first marriage, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, who received the family name Claudius, but did not retain his family name in the form of Domitian; he received the name Tiberius Claudius Drusus Germanicus Caesar and the cognomen Nero, which turned into his personal name, under which he entered history. When he became emperor, he took the name NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVGVSTVS GERMANICVS.

The women were called Yuliev and Claudiev differently. Although all the women of the Julian family had nomen, in fact only the daughter and granddaughter of Augustus were called Julia. All three daughters of Germanicus were also Julia, but they were called not according to tradition “Elder,” “Second,” “Third,” but according to cognomen: Julia Agrippina (according to the cognomen of her mother Agrippina the Elder), Julia Drusilla (according to the cognomen of her great-grandmother Livia Drusilla ) and Julia Livilla (according to the nomen of her great-grandmother Livia Drusilla), in fact the daughters of Germanicus were called Agrippina, Drusilla and Livilla.

The granddaughter of Germanicus, daughter of Emperor Caligula, was Julia Drusilla (). She was named Drusilla, apparently because Drusilla was Caligula's favorite sister.

Women of the Claudian clan, on the contrary, were distinguished not by cognomen, but by clan name. The daughters of Emperor Claudius were named Claudia, Antonia (after the nomen of her grandmother Antonia the Younger) and Octavia (after the nomen of her great-grandfather Augustus). Because official name Octavia (Nero's wife) CLAVDIA OCTAVIA, then probably the second daughter was called Claudia Antonia. This is the first time a woman has two generic names.

After his death, Augustus's wife Livia Drusilla was officially accepted into the Julian family and received the title of Augusta, so that she became known as Julia Augusta ().

Augustus was the first person to turn the title "emperor" into an official praenomen. In Republican times, this title was forced upon the commander by the Senate or soldiers for a major victory and remained with him until his return to Rome, where it gave him the right to celebrate a triumph. Sulla held this title for life. Julius Caesar accepted him as praenomen (). However, for Caesar, it did not yet serve as a symbol of supreme power, but indicated only the connection between the commander and the soldiers, and was not included in Caesar’s official title (there is no “title “emperor” in his coins) ().

Augustus, according to Tacitus, received this title 21 times () and officially made it his praenomen - IMP CAESAR, while among the generals of the era of the Republic this title followed the name (M. Tullius imperator). Augustus gave the title of emperor as praenomen to his stepsons Tiberius and Drusus (), since at that time this word was not yet synonymous with supreme ruler.

Emperor Tiberius dropped the word emperor from his official name (TI CAESAR AVG), but gave it to his adopted nephew Germanicus for his victory over the Germans (). Tacitus calls Agrippina the Younger the daughter of the emperor, although her father Germanicus was never the head of state (). The word emperor finally lost its former meaning during the reign of Tiberius, about which Tacitus writes the following: “Tiberius, considering the war to be over, granted Blaise that the legions would greet him as emperor: this was an ancient honor for generals who, after the successful end of the war, among The joy and enthusiasm of the victorious army was heard by a general cry. There were several emperors at one time, but no one was higher than the others. And Augustus allowed this title for some people, and now Tiberius for Blaise, but for the last time" ().

Subsequent monarchs take this title as praenomen, but still hesitantly. Only in rare cases are Caligula, Claudius and Nero called IMP C CAESAR, IMP TI CLAVDIVS, IMP NERO CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG GERMANICVS, more often praenomen IMP is absent from their titles. The names of Galba and Vitellius were written both with and without praenomen IMP. Only starting with Otho, all monarchs have praenomen IMP, which becomes the formal sign of the person who has the highest power in the state. Vespasian, whose full name was originally Titus Flavius ​​Vespasian, takes the official name IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG (or IMP VESPASIANVS CAESAR AVG).

I started reading about what people were called in Ancient Rome and was very impressed. Compared to how these guys stuck out in our world today, everything is very simple (even if we take into account Russian patronymics).
The topic of these names is vast and you can delve into it for a very long time - naming traditions have changed over the course of one and a half millennia, and each clan had its own quirks and customs. I've simplified it all for you into ten interesting points.

1.

The classical name of a Roman citizen consisted of three parts:

The personal name, "prenomen", was given by the parents. It is similar to today's names.

The clan name, “nomen” is something like our surnames. Belonging to an old noble family meant a lot.

An individual nickname, “cognomen”, was often given to a person for some kind of merit (not necessarily good), or was passed down by inheritance.

For example, the most famous Roman, Gaius Julius Caesar, had Gaius as his prenomen, Julius as his nomen, and Caesar as his cognomen. Moreover, he inherited all three parts of his name from his father and grandfather, both of whom had exactly the same name - Gaius Julius Caesar. So “Julius” is not a name at all, but rather a surname!

2.

In general, it was a tradition for the eldest son to inherit all his father's names. Thus, he also took over the status and titles of his parent, continuing his work. The remaining sons were usually given different prenomen, so as not to confuse the children. As a rule, they were called the same as their father's brothers.

But they only bothered with the first four sons. If more of them were born, then the rest were simply called by number: Quintus (fifth), Sextus (sixth), Septimus (seventh), etc.

Eventually, due to the continuation of this practice for many years, the number of popular praenomen narrowed from 72 to a small handful of repeated names: Decimus, Gaius, Caeso, Lucius, Marcus, Publius, Servius and Titus were so popular that they were usually abbreviated with just the first letter . Everyone immediately understood what it was about.

3.

The society of Ancient Rome was clearly divided into plebeians and patricians. And although there were sometimes cases where families of distinguished plebeians achieved aristocratic status, a much more common method of social advancement was adoption into a noble family.

Usually this was done to prolong the lineage of an influential person, which means that the adopted person had to take the name of the new parent. At the same time, his previous name turned into a nickname-cognomen, sometimes in addition to the existing cognomen of his adoptive father.

Thus, Gaius Julius Caesar adopted in his will his grandnephew, Gaius Octavius ​​Furius, and he, having changed his name, began to be called Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian. (Later, as he seized power, he added several more titles and nicknames.)

4.

If a person did not inherit the cognomen from his father, then he spent the first years of his life without it until he somehow distinguished himself from his relatives.

During the late Republic, people often chose out-of-fashion praenomen as cognomen. For example, at the dawn of the Roman state there was a popular praenomen "Agrippa". As the centuries passed, its popularity waned, but the name was revived as a cognomen among some influential families of the late Republican period.

A successful cognomen was fixed for many generations, creating a new branch in the family - this was the case with Caesar in the Julian family. Also, each family had its own traditions regarding which kongnomen its members appropriated.

5.

All Roman names had masculine and feminine forms. This extended not only to personal praenomen, but also to surnames-nomens and nicknames-cognomens. For example, all women from the Julian clan were called Julias, and those who had the cognomen Agrippa were called Agrippinas.

When getting married, a woman did not take her husband’s nomen, so it was difficult to confuse her with other family members.

6.

But personal names, praenomen, were rarely used among women of the late Republic. And Cognomen too. Perhaps this was due to the fact that women did not take part in the public life of Rome, so there was no need for outsiders to distinguish between them. Be that as it may, most often, even in noble families, daughters were called simply the feminine form of their father's nomen.

That is, all the women in the Yuli family were Yulia. It was easy for parents to name their daughter, but others didn’t need it (until she got married). And if there were two daughters in the family, then they were called Yulia the Elder and Yulia the Younger. If three, then Prima, Second and Tertius. Sometimes the eldest daughter could be called "Maxima".

7.

When a foreigner acquired Roman citizenship - usually upon completion of military service - he usually took the name of his patron, or, if he was a freed slave, the name of his former master.

During the period of the Roman Empire, there were many cases when a huge number of people immediately became citizens by imperial decree. By tradition, they all took the name of the emperor, which caused considerable embarrassment.

For example, the Edict of Caracalla (this emperor received his cognomen from the name of the Gallic clothing - a long robe, the fashion for which he introduced) made all free people on its vast territory citizens of Rome. And all these new Romans accepted the imperial nomen Aurelius. Of course, after such actions, the meaning of these names greatly decreased.

8.

Imperial names are generally something special. The longer the emperor lived and ruled, the more names he collected. These were mainly cognomen and their later variety, agnomen.
For example, the full name of Emperor Claudius was Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus.

Over time, "Caesar Augustus" became not so much a name as a title - it was adopted by those who sought imperial power.

9.

Beginning with the early empire, praenomen began to fall out of favor, and were largely replaced by cognomen. This was partly due to the fact that there were few prenomen in use (see point 2), and family traditions increasingly dictated that all sons be named the father’s prenomen. Thus, from generation to generation, praenomen and nomen remained the same, gradually turning into a complex “surname”.

At the same time, it was possible to roam around on kongnomen, and after the 1st - 2nd centuries AD, they became real names in our understanding.

10.

Starting from the 3rd century AD, the prenomen and nomen in general began to be used less and less. This was partly due to the fact that a bunch of people with the same names appeared in the empire - people who received citizenship en masse as a result of the imperial decree (see point 7) and their descendants.

Since cognomen had become a more personal name by this time, people preferred to use it.

The last documented use of the Roman nomen was in the early 7th century.

In Ancient Rome they took names and their meanings very seriously. The Romans believed that man's destiny lay in them. They believed that if an ill-wisher found out the name, he could use magic to take the person’s life. This is why slaves were forbidden to speak the name of their master.

Rome is one of the oldest cities in the world; it was once the capital of the famous Roman Empire. The inhabitants of the city at that time can be divided into two groups: free and slaves. Meanwhile, each of these groups consisted of many other smaller communities. Free citizens could be both native inhabitants of Rome, they are called patricians, and visitors from other regions of the empire - plebeians. Slaves received their status based on their origin and place of service. They could be private, public, prisoners of war, purchased at special markets, or born in the owner's house. And what’s most interesting is that Roman names were given depending on a person’s status, his origin and his membership in the family tree.

Structure of ancient Roman names

The history of the origin of Roman names was quite confusing, because it took shape over many centuries. The final system of names and their assignments, which were firmly established in Ancient Rome, was formed around the 2nd century AD. e. - at the very peak of the heyday of the powerful Roman Empire.

In those days, Roman names had a clear structure, by which it was possible to determine to which genus a person belonged. Moreover, the Romans had the honor of giving full names only to men; with women the situation was different. To fully understand these traditions, the divisions should be studied in more detail.

Roman names, male and priestly names, consisted of three parts. This system is a little reminiscent of our modern one: the first name is praenomen (personal name), the second denotes belonging to a certain clan - nomen (something like a surname) and, finally, the third name is cognomen, a person received it thanks to some characteristics in his appearance. Let's study each of them in more detail.

Origin of male names

There were only a few personal male names: there are no more than 20 of them. The thing is that the Romans had a tradition of naming their eldest sons in honor of their father. It turns out that all the firstborns of the same family bore the same names. Prenomen is a personal name that boys received on the ninth day after birth. By decree of the Senate - the main body of power in Ancient Rome, in the period 200 BC. e. It was decided to name all the eldest sons as father's name. That is why many emperors bore the names of their great-grandfathers, grandfathers and fathers. Their children also continued the glorious tradition and were given unchangeable names in honor of their ancestors. But Roman names (female) were given to daughters with some changes in endings to indicate that it belongs to a woman.

Family names

The history of the origin of the second name is very interesting. Nomen is a generic name that denotes a person’s belonging to a certain clan. The total number of generic names exceeds one thousand, according to the Roman encyclopedist and writer Marcus Varro. Nomen, unlike prenomen, were never abbreviated in writing, with the exception of only the most famous generic names. For example, the nomen Antonius could be written as Ant. or Anton.

Perhaps the most mysterious element is the cognomen (third Roman names) - masculine ones, which were considered optional. That is, they could be absent in some men. The essence of the Roman name in this case is that the Roman received the nickname for some personal qualities in character or appearance. Later, new branches began to arise in the family clan, receiving their names in honor of the cognomen of their ancestor. The most famous are the genera Probus (translated as honest, a nickname received for the truthfulness and integrity of a person), Rufus (red-haired, obviously received for external qualities), Severus (merciless) and Lucro (glutton).

Beautiful names: Roman and Greek

It is not surprising that the Roman population was heterogeneous in composition, because people of different classes came to the capital of the empire from all territories. Over the centuries, residents mixed with each other: Romans married with Greeks, as a result, new names appeared, which over time became firmly entrenched in Roman society. Greek and Roman names have many similarities, because their culture is based on a common belief in the existence of ancient gods and similar mythology. However, despite these facts, Greek names are very different from Roman ones. For example, the Greeks named their children exclusively good names that had a certain meaning. They believed that then the child also received the protection of the gods. It is almost impossible to trace the history of each of them, so it is believed that many ancient Greek names may also be of Roman origin. Here are the most beautiful and famous Greco-Roman names: Alexandros - defender of the homeland; Andreas - warlike, brave; Archimedes - thinking, wise; Vasilis - of royal blood; Gregorios - vigilant; Giorgios - economical; Doraseos - gift of the gods; Ioannis - kind; Konstantios - strong, unshakable; Nikias, Nikon - victorious.

Female Roman names: origin and features

In principle, the social system of the Romans can be considered patriarchal with elements of some amendments in favor of women. The fact is that the position of a resident of Rome was determined by the social status of her father. If a girl was from a noble and wealthy family, then those around her treated her with respect. Such a person had relative freedom: she could appear in society, had the right to physical integrity, that is, even her husband could not force her to love.

And even despite this, for some reason women were deprived of a personal name. They were called only by the generic names of their fathers, although the ending was slightly changed to produce other Roman names (feminine forms were formed using the ending -ia). For example, the favorite of the daughters of Gaius Julius Caesar was named Julia, and the eldest daughter of Publius Cornelia Scipio was named Cornelia. That is why all women of the same family had the same names, which differed only in prenomen.

According to tradition, when other daughters were born into the family, a prenomen was added to their family name - nomen, which was determined depending on her age. The sisters were called by personal name in order of birth, for example, Major was the eldest, Secunda was the second, Tertila was the third, and Minor was the name of the youngest sister.

Names of married women

When a girl got married, her husband's cognomen (nickname) was added to her name. Everyone addressed the married woman, calling her full name. For example, Julia (father's name is Julius), who married Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, received the name Julia, daughter Julia, (wife) Gracchus.

The writing also included the woman's full name. The most famous inscription "Caeciliae, Q(uinti) Cretici f(iliae), Metellae, Crassi (uxori)" is carved on the tomb of the wife of the triumvirate Marcus Licinius Crassus.

Women from very noble families who married an influential man had the right to inherit not only the family name, but also the cognomen of their fathers. For example, the full name of the wife of the commander Crassus was Caecilia Metellus, received from her father, whose name was Lucius Caecilius Metellus Dalmatica. He was a military leader who defeated the Dalmatians, for which he subsequently received his fourth name from the Senate - agnomen.

Archaic form of slave names

The system of names for slaves was formed as a result of the extensive spread of slavery: in official documents, which were immutable attributes political structure Ancient Rome, it was necessary to enter all the names of slaves.

Slaves usually had names of Greek origin, such as Antigonus, Philonicus, Deadumenes or Eros. Slaves were considered property, therefore legally they were not subjects, but objects, this explains their complete lack of rights and dependence on their masters. Many of them received Roman names consisting of the praenomen lord, the nomen or cognomen of the fathers and the additional word puer (son, boy).

In the Roman Empire, the fate of slaves was very difficult, but this did not affect their names in any way: on the contrary, many received nicknames that sounded positive, for example, Felix - happy, joyful.

Modern names

Over time, names changed under the influence of changing historical eras. Most of the ancient Greek names have survived to this day. True, many of them have a slightly different shape, which differs only in the endings. The root of modern European names and ancient Greek ones is the same.

Many Roman names in transformed form are still used in some European countries. It is believed that Latin, the language in which the Romans wrote, has become extinct. However, this is not entirely true, because almost all European languages ​​are successors of Latin. Here full list Roman names (male and female), which are still relevant today:

• Alexander and Alexandra;
• Augustine and Augustine;
• Aurelius and Albina;
• Benedict and Bella (Belus);
• Hector and Gella;
• Gasper and Hermione;
• Gommer and Gaia;
• Dimitri and Daphne;
• Hippolytus and Irena;
• Castor and Cassandra;
• Lev and Laida;
• Maya, Melissa and Melanie;
• Nestor and Nika;
• Penelope;
• Rhea and Selena;
• Timofey, Tikhon and Tia;
• Theodore, Philip, Frida and Florence (Flora).

These Roman names have almost lost their original meaning; now people name their children this way, guided mainly by aesthetic whims. After all, these names sound very beautiful and have interesting story origin.