Roman naming conventions

Over 1400 years the Romans and other peoples of Italy employed a system of names which were different from the personal names used by other cultures in Europe, consisting of a combination of a personal and a family name. Although conventionally referred to as the tria nomina, the combination of praenomen, nomen, and cognomen that have come to be regarded as the basic elements of the classical Roman name-form in fact represent a continuous process of development, from at least the 7th century BC – 7th century AD. The names that developed as part of this system became a defining characteristic of Roman civilization, and although the system itself fell out of use during the Early Middle Ages, the names themselves had a profound influence on the development of European naming practices, and many continue to influence modern languages.