Mostly taken from
Kate Monk's site (
http://snipurl.com/8xve), which I've finally gotten around to perusing a bit. It's great, just as I've been told it was. :-)
General Names: I've listed the female names first, then the male counterparts. Note that in
Roman times, C was pronounced as K, so
Marcia and
Lucius would've been MAHR-kee-ah and LOO-kee-us respectively:
Agrippina,
AgrippaAlbia, Albius
Albinia, Albinius
Allia, Allius
AmaltheaAmanda,
AmandusAmbrosia, Ambrosius
Angela, Angelus
Annia, Annius - Might make a good change from
Anna, or a nice pseudo-masc. form of
Anna in Annius's case
Antonia,
AntoniusAppia,
AppiusArminia, Arminius
Arria, Arrius
Attia, Attius
Augusta,
AugustusAurelia,
AureliusAvita,
AvitusCalatoria, Calatorius
Calpurnia, Calpurnius - I saw a Calpurnia Adams on
American Justice once, the girlfriend of a murdered cadet. The cadet's murder was possibly a hate crime, as Calpurnia was a male-to-female transsexual
Calva, Calvus
Calvina, Calvinus
Camilla,
CamillusCaria, Carius
CarinaCassia,
CassiusCasta, Castus
Cata, Cato or Catus
Catia
Christiana, Christianus
Cinna
Clara, Clarus
Claudia,
ClaudiusClodia, Clodius or Clodian or Clodianus
Cloelia
CordeliaCornelia,
CorneliusCrescentia,
CrescentiusCrispa, Crispus
Crispina,
Crispin – See also below
CristinaCypria, Cyprianus or Cyprias
Dalmatica
Desiderata – Most familiar modern form is Désirée
Domna
Drusa, Drusus
Dulcia
EmeliaEncratia, Encratis
Ennia, Ennius
EstellaEubia
Eustacia, Eustacius
EutropiaFabia,
FabiusFadia, Fadius
Fausta,
FaustusFeliciaFlavia,
FlaviusFloraFontia
FortunataFulvia, Fulvius
GaeaGalla
GallusGloriaGrania, Granius
Gratia or Grata, Gratus -
Roman form of
GraceHelvia, Helvius
Hilaria, Hilarius
Hispala, Hispalus
Honora or
Honoria,
HonoriusHoratia,
HoratiusHortensia, Hortensius
Hyacintha, Hyacinthus
HypatiaIdoneaInnocentia
Januaria
Julia,
JuliusJuliana,
Julian or Julianus
Junia, Junius
Justa,
JustusJustina,
Justin or Justinus
Laelia, Laelius
LaviniaLivia,
LiviusLollia, Lollius
Lucia,
LuciusLucilia, Lucilius
Maia, Maius
Manlia, Manlius
Marcella,
MarcellusMarcellina, Marcellinus – See also below
Marcia, Marcius
Maria,
MariusMatia, Matius
MatronaMaxima,
MaximusMelissa, Melissus
Melita, Melitus
Mucia, Mucius
Natalia, Natalis or Natalinus
Octavia,
Octavius - See also below
OliviaPanthea
Papinia, Papinius
Peregrina, Peregrinus
Petronia, Petronius
Placida, Placidus
Pollia, Pollius
Pompeia, Pompeius
Pomponia, Pomponius
Popillia, Popillius
Poppaea, Poppaeus
Porcia, Porcius
Portia, Portius
Postumia, Postumius
Prisca, Priscus
Quartilia, Quartilius - See also below
Quintilia, Quintilius - See also below
Regina, Reginus – Though I wonder why somebody would name their son "queen"…
RheaRiaRomanaRufia, Rufius
Rufina, Rufinus
Sabina, Sabinus
Sabrina, Sabrinus
Salonia, Salonius
Saturnia, Saturnius
SeleneSempronia, Sempronius
Serena, Serenus
Sergia,
SergiusServilia, Servilius
Severa, Severus
Sidonia,
SidoniusSilia, Silius
Silvia, Silvius
Silviana, Silvianus
Sophrona
Sosia, Sosius
Sylvia, Sylvius
Tacita,
TacitusTadia, Tadius
Terentia, Terentius
Tiberia,
TiberiusTitia, Titius
Titinia, Titinius
Tullia, Tullius
Una – See also below
Valeria,
ValeriusVaria,
VariusVelva, Velvus
VeronicaVespasia,
VespasianusVettia, Vettius
Viatrix – Today this is
BeatrixVictoria,
VictorVipsania, Vipsanius
Virgilia,
VirgilVirginia, Virginius
Vitellia, Vitellius
Volusia, Volusius
Female Diminutives: Diminutives of certain female names were formed by adding the suffix
-illa or
-ina. These were originally used to distinguish a younger daughter from an older daughter, or a perhaps a niece and aunt, when they shared the same name. Later, however, the diminutives were given independantly regardless of birth order or relationship. Bracketed names are the non-diminutive forms of the names:
Agrippinilla (
Agrippina)
Augustinilla (
Augustina)
Camillina (
Camilla)
Claudilla (
Claudia)
Crispina (Crispa)
Drusilla (Drusa)
Dulcilla (Dulcia)
Faustilla (
Fausta)
Faustina (
Fausta)
Flavilla (
Flavia)
Julilla (
Julia)
Junilla (
Junia)
Livilla (
Livia)
Lucilla (
Lucia)
Marcilla (
Marcia)
Marcellina (
Marcella)
Petronilla (Petronia)
Priscilla (
Prisca)
Quartilla (Quarta, see below)
Quintilla (Quinta, see below)
Rufilla (Rufia,
Rufina)
Sabinilla (
Sabina)
Servililla (Servilia)
Victorina (
Victoria)
Number names: Originally, a name such as Primus would be given to the firstborn son, then Secunda would be given to his second-born sister, etc. Later, again, the names were sometimes given independantly, regardless of birth order. Early on, the higher number names were rare as (surprisingly) very large families weren't very common in
Roman society:
1. Prima or
Una, Primus
2. Secunda,
Secundus3. Tertia,
Tertius4. Quartia, Quartius
5. Quinta,
Quintus6. Sexta,
Sextus7. Septima,
Septimus8. Octavia,
Octavius9. Nona, Nonus
10. Decima,
Decimus11. Undecima, Undecimus
20. Vicesima, Vicesimus
Whew! Well, I think that's enough for now, lol.
What amazes me is how many of these names survive today, thousands and thousands of years after they were created. I mean, just think of a baby girl being named
Julia in 100 BCE--100 years before
Jesus's birth--and then think of a baby being named
Julia in 2005. Cool, no?
Miranda