Make a Roman Name
For

Men
  
Enter your first name:

Enter your last name:




Your Roman name is:

Enter your name in the form to create a unique Roman name.

For a woman's name, look here.

What's in a (Roman) Name?
A Roman man normally had three parts to his name:
  • Praenomen - the personal name
  • Nomen - the name of his gens, or tribe
  • Cognomen - the family name
Some privileged Romans had an Agnomen, a fourth or even a fifth name.

For example:

Marcus Tullius Cicero
Marcus (praenomen) Tullius (nomen - Tullius tribe) Cicero (cognomen - Cicero family)

Gaius Julius Caesar
Gaius (praenomen) Julius (nomen - Julius tribe) Caesar (cognomen - Caesar family)

Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Aemilianus
Publius (praenomen) Cornelius(nomen - Cornelius tribe) Scipio (cognomen - Scipio family) Africanus (agnomen - given for his military success in Africa) Aemilianus(another agnomen - adopted from the Aemilian tribe)

The name maker here calculates the praenomen from your first name, the nomen from your last name, and the cognomen as a combination of both. If you want an agnomen, you'll have to do something noteworthy - call me when you've defeated Hannibal.

Tribes
One type of name not addressed here, but often seen on inscriptions is the name of the voting tribe - a territorial designation used in earlier Rome for voting. The number of tribes grew to approximately 35. The tribes lessened in importance as the empire effectively eliminated the practice of voting.
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