Each of the Italic peoples had its own distinctive group of praenomina. A few names were shared between cultures, and the Etruscans in particular borrowed many praenomina from Latin and Oscan. It is disputed whether some of the praenomina used by the Romans themselves were of distinctly Etruscan or Oscan origin. However, these names were in general use at Rome and other Latin towns, and were used by families that were certainly of Latin origin. Thus, irrespective of their actual etymology, these names may be regarded as Latin.
Masculine names In the early centuries of the Roman Republic, about three dozen praenomina seem to have been in general use at Rome, of which about half were common. This number gradually dwindled to about eighteen praenomina by the first century BC, of which perhaps a dozen were common. •
Agrippa (Agr.) •
Appius (Ap.) •
Aulus (A.) •
Caeso (K.) •
Decimus (D.) •
Faustus (F.) •
Gaius (C.) •
Gnaeus (Cn.) •
Hostus •
Lucius (L.) •
Mamercus (Mam.) •
Manius (ꟿ. or M'.) •
Marcus (M.) •
Mettius •
Nonus •
Numerius (N.) •
Octavius (Oct.) •
Opiter (Opet.) •
Paullus •
Postumus (Post.) •
Proculus (Pro.) •
Publius (P.) •
Quintus (Q.) •
Septimus •
Sertor (Sert.) •
Servius (Ser.) •
Sextus (Sex.) •
Spurius (S.) •
Statius (St.) •
Tiberius (Ti.) •
Titus (T.) •
Tullus •
Vibius (V.) •
Volesus (Vol.) •
Vopiscus (Vop.) Notes: •
Caeso is frequently (especially in older records) spelled
Kaeso. The abbreviation K. was retained to distinguish the name from
Gaius, abbreviated "C." •
Gaius and
Gnaeus are abbreviated with C. and Cn., respectively, because the practice of abbreviating them was already established by the time the letter
G, a modified
C, was introduced to the Latin alphabet. Although the archaic spellings
Caius and
Cnaeus also appear in later records,
Gaius and
Gnaeus represent the actual pronunciation of these names. •
Manius was originally abbreviated with an archaic five-stroke M (ꟿ), borrowed from the Etruscan alphabet (from which the Latin alphabet was derived) but not otherwise used in Latin. The apostrophe is used as a substitute for this letter. •
Octavius (with an i) seems to be the only form of this name found as a praenomen, although the form
Octavus would be consistent with the adjective from which the name is derived. •
Volero, a praenomen used by the Publilii, is believed to be a variant of
Volesus. Some of the praenomina in this list are known from only a few examples. However, the overall sample from which they have been taken represents only a small fraction of the entire Roman populace. The
Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft mentions about ten thousand individuals whose praenomina are known from surviving works of history, literature, and various inscriptions. These individuals are spread over a period of over twelve centuries, with the smallest sample coming from the early Republic, when the greatest variety of praenomina was in use. During that same period, the sample consists almost entirely of Roman men belonging to the leading patrician families. Like the masculine praenomina, the months of the old Roman Calendar had names based on the numbers five through ten: Quintilis (July), Sextilis (August), September, October, November, and December. However, this hypothesis is nuanced, requiring that the feminine praenomina Prima, Secunda, Tertia, and Quarta be explained by birth order and that Septimus, Octavius, and perhaps Nonus fell into disuse as praenomina over time, whilst continuing as gentilician names.
Historical trends Many families, particularly amongst the great patrician houses, limited themselves to a small number of praenomina, probably as a means of distinguishing themselves from one another and from the plebeians, who used a wider variety of names. For example, the Cornelii used Aulus, Gnaeus, Lucius, Marcus, Publius, Servius, and Tiberius; the Julii limited themselves to Lucius, Gaius, Sextus, and Vopiscus; the Claudii were fond of Appius, Gaius, and Publius; the Postumii favored Aulus, Gaius, Lucius, Publius, and Spurius; and so on. The most prominent plebeian families also tended to limit the names of which they made regular use, although amongst both social classes, there must have been exceptions whenever a family had a large number of sons. Many families avoided certain names, although the reasons varied. According to legend, the Junii avoided the names Titus and Tiberius because they were the names of two sons of
Lucius Junius Brutus, the founder of the Republic, who were executed on the grounds that they had plotted to restore the king to power. Another legend relates that after
Marcus Manlius Capitolinus was condemned for treason, the
Roman Senate decreed that no member of
gens Manlia should bear the praenomen Marcus, a tradition that seems to have been followed until the first century. However, normally such matters were left to the discretion of the family. In most instances, the reason why certain praenomina were preferred and others avoided probably arose from the desire to pass on family names. Several names were used by only a few patrician families, although they were more widespread amongst the plebeians. For example: Appius was used only by the Claudii, Caeso by the Fabii and the Quinctii, Agrippa by the Furii and the Menenii, Numerius by the Fabii, Mamercus by the Aemilii and the Pinarii, Vopiscus only by the Julii, and Decimus was not used by any patrician family (unless the Junii were, as is sometimes believed, originally patrician), although it was widely used amongst the plebeians. Throughout Roman history, the most common praenomen was Lucius, followed by Gaius, with Marcus in third place. During the most conservative periods, these three names could account for as much as fifty percent of the adult male population. At some distance were Publius and Quintus, only about half as common as Lucius, distantly followed by Titus. Aulus, Gnaeus, Spurius, Sextus, and Servius were less common, followed by Manius, Tiberius, Caeso, Numerius, and Decimus, which were decidedly uncommon (at least amongst the patricians) during the Republic. Throughout Republican times, the number of praenomina in general use declined, but older names were occasionally revived by noble families, and occasionally anomalous names such as Ancus, Iulus, or Kanus were given. Some of these may have been ancient praenomina that had already passed out of common use by the early Republic. As they vanished from use as personal names, many older praenomina, such as Agrippa, Faustus, Mamercus, Paullus, Postumus, Proculus, and Vopiscus were revived as cognomina. Other examples of names that may once have been praenomina include Fusus, an early cognomen of
gens Furia, and Cossus, a cognomen of
gens Cornelia. By the first century BC, the praenomina remaining in general use at Rome were: Appius, Aulus, Caeso, Decimus, Gaius, Gnaeus, Lucius, Mamercus, Manius, Marcus, Numerius, Publius, Quintus, Servius, Sextus, Spurius, Titus, and Tiberius. However, older names continued to be revived from time to time, especially in noble families, and they probably continued to be used outside Rome. By the second century, several of these names had also passed out of general use at Rome, leaving Aulus, Decimus, Gaius, Gnaeus, Lucius, Manius, Marcus, Numerius, Publius, Quintus, Sextus, Titus, and Tiberius. Under the empire, confusion seems to have developed as to precisely what constituted a praenomen and how it should be used. A number of emperors considered
Imperator as a praenomen, and thus part of their names. As a larger percentage of the Roman populace came from backgrounds that had never used traditional Roman names, the praenomen was frequently omitted, or at least ignored. In its place, an increasing number of magistrates and officials placed common nomina, frequently with praenomen-like abbreviations. The most common of these were Flavius (Fl.), Claudius (Cl.), Julius, Junius, Valerius (Val.), and Aurelius. These names appear almost arbitrarily, much like praenomina, and probably were intended to imply nobility, although ultimately they became so common as to lose any real significance. ==Faliscan praenomina==