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ArchivesRe: Feminine forms of two Latin names
in reply to a message by Anneza
The question is not the same as asking for a feminine form of Smith or Jones.
Nero and Caesar were cognomen. Cognomen started as nicknames and are not the equivalent of modern surnames. In fact at some point women did start to adopt feminine forms of cognomen:
"By the late Republic, women also adopted the feminine form of their father's cognomen, e.g., Aquilia Severa was the daughter of Aquilius"
There do not seem to be any that used feminine forms of Caesar and Nero though.
Nero and Caesar were cognomen. Cognomen started as nicknames and are not the equivalent of modern surnames. In fact at some point women did start to adopt feminine forms of cognomen:
"By the late Republic, women also adopted the feminine form of their father's cognomen, e.g., Aquilia Severa was the daughter of Aquilius"
There do not seem to be any that used feminine forms of Caesar and Nero though.
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Replies
Surnames also started as nicknames! And for the same reason: to differentiate between people in the same community with the same given names.
However, there is so much that we don't know about Roman naming practices for women that it's very hard to say a sensible word about it. The point you are making is a valid one, though: Aquilius Severus very easily becomes Aquilia Severa, just as, say, bonus deus can become bona dea. And it could clearly help in identifying her more accurately. But both Caesar and Nero are third declension nouns, and therefore would look the same in masculine and feminine forms, where these exist or could exist. If you put a clearly feminine adjective, or of course given name, a first declension one, next to one of these third declension cognomina, you could theoretically use it to refer to a female Caesar or Nero: but your female Caesar would be Julia, say, already so there wouldn't really be much point in calling her Julia Caesar.
However, there is so much that we don't know about Roman naming practices for women that it's very hard to say a sensible word about it. The point you are making is a valid one, though: Aquilius Severus very easily becomes Aquilia Severa, just as, say, bonus deus can become bona dea. And it could clearly help in identifying her more accurately. But both Caesar and Nero are third declension nouns, and therefore would look the same in masculine and feminine forms, where these exist or could exist. If you put a clearly feminine adjective, or of course given name, a first declension one, next to one of these third declension cognomina, you could theoretically use it to refer to a female Caesar or Nero: but your female Caesar would be Julia, say, already so there wouldn't really be much point in calling her Julia Caesar.
1
Surnames also started as nicknames! And for the same reason: to differentiate between people in the same community with the same given names.
However, there is so much that we don't know about Roman naming practices for women that it's very hard to say a sensible word about it. The point you are making is a valid one, though: Aquilius Severus very easily becomes Aquilia Severa, just as, say, bonus deus can become bona dea. And it could clearly help in identifying her more accurately. But both Caesar and Nero are third declension nouns, and therefore would look the same in masculine and feminine forms, where these exist or could exist. If you put a clearly feminine adjective, or of course given name, a first declension one, next to one of these third declension cognomina, you could theoretically use it to refer to a female Caesar or Nero: but your female Caesar would be Julia, say, already so there wouldn't really be much point in calling her Julia Caesar.
However, there is so much that we don't know about Roman naming practices for women that it's very hard to say a sensible word about it. The point you are making is a valid one, though: Aquilius Severus very easily becomes Aquilia Severa, just as, say, bonus deus can become bona dea. And it could clearly help in identifying her more accurately. But both Caesar and Nero are third declension nouns, and therefore would look the same in masculine and feminine forms, where these exist or could exist. If you put a clearly feminine adjective, or of course given name, a first declension one, next to one of these third declension cognomina, you could theoretically use it to refer to a female Caesar or Nero: but your female Caesar would be Julia, say, already so there wouldn't really be much point in calling her Julia Caesar.
1