Roman Names
I'm writing a series on Jewish girls and there are a couple of Roman families in the series. There is a centurion and then there is a wealthy family with a father, mother, son, and two daughters (the son is the eldest). I need a praenomen, nomen, and cognomen for each person. Any ideas?
Also, did any wealthy Roman families live in Jerusalem during the reign of Claudius?
~ Wunderkind_Princess
Also, did any wealthy Roman families live in Jerusalem during the reign of Claudius?
~ Wunderkind_Princess
Replies
Romans did name after gods/goddesses
They just didn't usually use the actual god's name, and the practice overall was comparatively rare. Some examples:
Marcus / Marcellus / Marcia / Marcella - Derived from Mars
Marius / Marianus / Marinus / Marinus / Maria (conceivably) / Mariana - Also derived from Mars
Martinus / Martina - Again derived from Mars, who was evidently a very worthy god to name your kid after!
Deodatus / Deodata - BtN says this means "given to God", but I suspect this originally meant "given to a god"
Dionysius / Dionysia - Dionysos was the Greek God of Wine, known as Bacchus to the Romans
Herminius / Herminia - Derived from Hermes, aka Mercury to the Romans
Junia - Possibly derived from Juno, Roman Goddess of Marriage
Saturnus / Saturna / Saturninus / Saturnina - Derived from the god Saturn, obviously
Amadeus / Amadea - BtN lists "love of God" as this name's meaning, but like Deodatus it could've originally meant "love of a god". However, BtN says Amadeus was used in the Late Roman period only--while I've read Amadeus was understandably popular amongst early Christians, I don't know if non-Christian Romans also used the name
Miranda
Proud adopter of 15 punctuation marks; see my profile for their names.
They just didn't usually use the actual god's name, and the practice overall was comparatively rare. Some examples:
Marcus / Marcellus / Marcia / Marcella - Derived from Mars
Marius / Marianus / Marinus / Marinus / Maria (conceivably) / Mariana - Also derived from Mars
Martinus / Martina - Again derived from Mars, who was evidently a very worthy god to name your kid after!
Deodatus / Deodata - BtN says this means "given to God", but I suspect this originally meant "given to a god"
Dionysius / Dionysia - Dionysos was the Greek God of Wine, known as Bacchus to the Romans
Herminius / Herminia - Derived from Hermes, aka Mercury to the Romans
Junia - Possibly derived from Juno, Roman Goddess of Marriage
Saturnus / Saturna / Saturninus / Saturnina - Derived from the god Saturn, obviously
Amadeus / Amadea - BtN lists "love of God" as this name's meaning, but like Deodatus it could've originally meant "love of a god". However, BtN says Amadeus was used in the Late Roman period only--while I've read Amadeus was understandably popular amongst early Christians, I don't know if non-Christian Romans also used the name
Proud adopter of 15 punctuation marks; see my profile for their names.
female names:
Aemilia
Antonia
Aurelia
Augustina
Priscilla
Saturnina
Silvia
Septima
Urbana
Valeriana
Valeria
Valentina
Varinia
Viviana
Rufina
Mariana
Patricia
Paula
Hilaria
Felicia
Feliciana
Faustina
Flavia
Cyriaca
Crescentia
male names:
Amandus
Appius
Aquila
Antonius
Aurelius
Aulus
Quintus
Rufus
Saturninus
Secundinus
Sidonius
Septimus
Silvanus
Valerius
Tiberius
Vespasianus
Tacitus
Thracius
Tertius
Seneca
Marinus
Maurus
Maximus
Marius
Marianus
Octavius
Faustus
Felix
Fidelis
Flavius
Festus
click here for more names:
http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/rom-anci.php
Aemilia
Antonia
Aurelia
Augustina
Priscilla
Saturnina
Silvia
Septima
Urbana
Valeriana
Valeria
Valentina
Varinia
Viviana
Rufina
Mariana
Patricia
Paula
Hilaria
Felicia
Feliciana
Faustina
Flavia
Cyriaca
Crescentia
male names:
Amandus
Appius
Aquila
Antonius
Aurelius
Aulus
Quintus
Rufus
Saturninus
Secundinus
Sidonius
Septimus
Silvanus
Valerius
Tiberius
Vespasianus
Tacitus
Thracius
Tertius
Seneca
Marinus
Maurus
Maximus
Marius
Marianus
Octavius
Faustus
Felix
Fidelis
Flavius
Festus
click here for more names:
http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/rom-anci.php