160 Roman Baby Names With Meanings

Roman names are topping the popular baby name list, partly because of “The Hunger Games”, a scintillating book that features Roman names for its majority of male characters and partly because of the HBO series, called “Rome”. But Roman names were not always the same. Over the span of 14 centuries, Rome has adopted a nomenclature that’s quite different from what’s used by other European cultures and countries. In the earlier times, Romans used just a single name, which later developed into praenomen. It was picked by the baby’s parents and was bestowed on the “day of lustration”, a ritual performed on the eighth day of the birth of a baby girl and on the ninth day of the birth of a baby boy. The name choice was governed by the family’s custom and tradition. The eldest son was named after the father, while the younger ones were named after the father’s brothers and other male ancestors. This way, the same name or praenomen was passed down from generation to generation. For the surname or last name, a cognomen or the family name or branch of the tribe was used. The convention has changed considerably now. Parents can pick any first name they like for their bundle of joy. The last name is usually a family name, carried down the generation. Have a look at MomJunction's list of Roman baby names with meanings below!