''Numerius Negidius'' is a name used in Roman jurisprudence, based on a play on words: '' Numerius'' is a Roman

praenomen The ''praenomen'' (; plural: ''praenomina'') was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the bi ...

, or forename, resembling the verb ''numero'', "I pay"; while ''Negidius'' has the form of a

gentile name A demonym (; ) or gentilic () is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, ...

formed from the verb ''nego'', "I refuse". Thus, ''Numerius Negidius'' is a personal name that can also be interpreted to mean "I refuse to pay". For this reason, it was used to refer to the

defendant In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one jurisdic ...

in a hypothetical

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

. The

plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the p ...

would be referred to as ''Aulus Agerius''. ''

Aulus Aulus (abbreviated A.) is one of the small group of common forenames found in the culture of ancient Rome. The name was traditionally connected with Latin ''aula'', ''olla'', "palace", but this is most likely a false etymology. ''Aulus'' in fact p ...

'' is also a praenomen, while ''Agerius'' suggests the Latin verb ''ago'', "I set in motion", as it is the plaintiff who initiates a lawsuit. One well-known legal formula, a model instruction to the judge in a civil lawsuit, began as follows: ''si paret Numerium Negidium Aulo Agerio sestertium decem milia dare oportere'', meaning, "if it appears that Numerius Negidius ought to pay Aulus Agerius ten thousand

sesterces The ''sestertius'' (plural ''sestertii''), or sesterce (plural sesterces), was an ancient Roman coin. During the Roman Republic it was a small, silver coin issued only on rare occasions. During the Roman Empire it was a large brass coin. The na ...

..." In actual use, the names and amounts would be changed to the appropriate values. The initials N. N. can also stand for "name unknown" (''

nomen nescio ''Nomen nescio'' (), abbreviated to ''N.N.'', is used to signify an anonymous or unnamed person. From Latin ''nomen'' – "name", and ''nescio'' – "I do not know", it literally means "I do not know the name". The generic name Numerius Negidius ...

''), a

placeholder name Placeholder names are words that can refer to things or people whose names do not exist, are tip of the tongue, temporarily forgotten, are not relevant to the salient point at hand, are to avoid stigmatization, are unknowable/unpredictable in ...

roughly equivalent to John or Jane Doe, Thomas Atkins, etc.

References

Robinson, O. F., The Sources of Roman Law: Problems and Methods for Ancient Historians
Routledge, ; pp. 80, 89, (90 (restricted); as pub. at Google Books {{Italic title Roman law Placeholder names de:Nomen nominandum#Begriffsursprung und -geschichte