Most masculine Roman names of the late Republican and Augustan period consist of three elements: for example, M. Tullius Cicero, C. Iulius Caesar, P. Vergilius Maro, M. Terentius Varro.

The first of these is the praenomen or "fore-name." There were a limited number of these in use and so they generally appear in abbreviated form. The most common are:

A. = Aulus C.= Gaius* Cn. = Gnaeus* D. = Decimus

L. = Lucius M. = Marcus M'. = Manius P. = Publius

Q. = Quintus Ser. = Servius Sex. = Sextus T. = Titus Ti.= Tiberius

(Much rarer are Ap. = Appius, N. = Numerius, Sp. = Spurius, and V. = Vibius.)

*The use of "C." in the abbreviations for "Gaius" and "Gnaeus" is a fossilized remnant of an early stage in the Roman alphabet when C stood for both c and g; a good example of Roman conservatism! Just to add to the fun, when these praenomina are written out in full the g is used, thus "Gaius," not "Caius."

  The second element is sometimes called simply the nomen ("name"), more precisely the nomen gentilicium or "gentile name." It designates the gens or "clan" to which the bearer belongs and is therefore the heart of the Roman name. In male names the nomen ends in -ius, in -ia for female names: Antonius/Antonia, Octavius/Octavia, Iulius/Iulia. [N.B. In the "index of names" to many modern books on Roman history, Romans are listed by nomen; Cicero would therefore not be found under C, but under T for Tullius.]

  The third part (not consistently used before later Republican times) is the cognomen or "additional name" (cum ["along with"]+nomen). It originally served to mark out an individual member of a gens by referring to some distinctive feature: e.g., Cicero ("chick pea"), Naso ("nose"), Brutus ("dummy"). Once conferred, such cognomina tended to become hereditary, denoting sub branches within large clans (gentes) like the Cornelu Scipiones, the Claudii Nerones, or the Iulii Caesares. Other cognomina began as honorific titles, such as the epithet Magnus ("the great") carried by Pompey or Africanus (i.e., "conqueror of Africa") bestowed on the elder Scipio for his victory at Zama in 202 B.C. The title Augustus voted by the Senate in January of 27 B.C. is also of this kind.

  Formal and informal use of names. In formal contexts (e.g., on a dedicatory or honorific inscription) all three parts of an individual's name would appear, often along with his "filiation," i.e., the praenomen of his father and occasionally his grandfather as well. The filiation was inserted between the nomen and the cognomen and consisted of the relevant praenomen (in its usual abbreviated form) and the abbreviation "F." (for filius, "son") or "N." (for nepos, "grandson"). For example, "M. Tullius M. F. Cicero" = "Marcus Tullius Cicero, son of Marcus." [To be really formal a tribal aff~liation was added after the filiation.]

In speeches, letters, and conversations Romans addressed each other in a variety of ways. Semi formal usage appropriate for a debate in the Senate called for the praenomen and nomen "my learned colleague Marcus Tullius has argued" etc. (Compare modern Russian practice, in which members of the Soviet Congress politely refer to Mr. Gorbachev as "Mikhail Sergeyevich.") Close friends generally limited themeslves to one element in the name.

Other Issues:

Adoption. Adoption of adult males by other adult males was a common practice in Roman society; the adopted person's name was altered to denote his new status. The normal practice was to take the adoptive father's full set of names and to add one's old nomen as a further element (or agnomen); in the process the ending of the old nomen was changed from -ius to -ianus. Thus the future "Augustus" began life as C. Octavius (no cognomen), and when adopted in Julius Caesar's will he became C. Iulius Caesar Octavianus ("Octavian" for short in English).

Women. Roman females did not regularly have praenomina or cognomina. A woman might therefore be known simply by her nomen, e.g., Cornelia or Antonia. In some families it seems to have been the custom for women to adopt the cognomen as well (e.g., Caecilia Metella), and some female cognomina were coined on the basis of paternal cognomina (e.g., the daughter of M. Vipsanius Agrippa, the first wife of Tiberius, was known as Vipsania Agrippina ).

Roman names in English. Many well known figures of Roman history and literature are referred to by English forms of their nomen ("Horace" for Q. Horatius Flaccus, "Livy" for T. Livius, "Ovid" for P. Ovidius Naso, "Virgil" for P. Vergilius Maro) or cognomen ("Cicero" for M. Tullius Cicero). [The choice of element is arbitrary: in older English usage Cicero was often called "Tully" from his nomen Tullius, and Horace, Ovid, and Virgil are still at times referred to by their cognomina as "Flaccus," "Naso," and "Maro," though usually for deliberately fruity effect.] Nomen + cognomen is the rule for lesser known persons (Cornelius Gallus, Valerius Flaccus), but also for the most famous Roman of them all, Julius Caesar. Praenomina are not regularly employed, the main exceptions being "Mark Antony" (a Shakespearean inheritance) and Gaius and Tiberius Gracchus, where the praenomina are needed to distinguish between the brothers.