ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1255 http://www.s-gabriel.org/1255 ************************************ From: "S Friedemann" 3 Oct 1998 Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel! You asked for information about the use of the masculine name in Italy before 1600, and for general information about Roman naming. We're not sure whether you are only interested in classical Roman naming, or medieval/renaissance Italian naming, or both, so we're going to give you a little information on each subject. Please write us again if you have more specific questions about one period or the other. Roman names at the time of the republic had a three-part formation. The first part was the praenomen (literally "fore-name"), which corresponds well to the later notion of a given name, except that there was only a very small, fixed set of possible praenomina. As time went by, the set shrank even more and particular families might use only a few of those. As a result, the praenomen had limited value as a personal identifier. The second part of the three-part name is the nomen (name) which corresponds to our modern idea of a fixed, hereditary surname. This name identified not only which immediate family you belonged to, but identified your connections to a larger extended family. The third part of the name is the cognomen, which originated as a personal nickname of an individual. However, a sub-branch of a larger family might use a fixed nomen-cognomen combination as their hereditary surname. Additionally, an individual might have more than one cognomen serving different functions. (note the spelling) is indeed a classical Roman name; however, it was not a praenomen, but a nomen, i.e., a surname. [2] It would be appropriate in an early period Latin name if combined with a praenomen. Please write again if you'd like assistance in creating a Latin name. We found two forms of that were used in medieval and Renaissance Italy: and , with being less common. [1] Either of these would be fine Italian names. We found an example of in 1427. We believe that this name was in continuous use, in one of the spellings we've mentioned, from classical times to the present [3]. If you are interested in a later-period Italian name with as your given name, please write again and we'd be happy to offer suggestions for surnames. We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you will not hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further questions. Research and commentary on this letter was provided by Talan Gwynek, Arval Benicoeur, and Walraven van Nijmegen. For the Academy, --Arianuia filia Catmaili October 3, 1998 --------------------------------------- References: [1] De Felice, Emidio, _Dizionario dei Nomi Italiani_ (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Milan, 1992). [2] Solin, Heikki & Olli Salomies, _Repertorium Nominum Gentilium et Cognominum Latinorum_ (Hildesheim: Olms-Weidmann, 1988). [3] Ferrante laVolpe, _Men's names from Florence, 1427_ (WWW: Self-published, 1996) . http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ferrante/catasto