Today’s guest blogger, Nephele, moderator for the ancient Roman forums at UNRV.com (United Nations of Roma Victrix, in case you were wondering), offers us a crash course in ancient Roman girls’ names and naming. Some of these names are still current, like Antonia and Virginia; others, such as Lucilia, are a bit more esoteric.

Modern Western civilization owes much to the legacy of ancient Rome, not the least of its many influences being found in our names.

In the ancient Roman system of naming, each citizen belonged to an ancestral group called a “gens,” and took his name from his particular gens. The traditional form of the Roman name existed in three parts: Roman males would be given a first name at birth, called a “praenomen,” followed by his gens name, and then a last name called a “cognomen” that identified the branch of the gens to which he belonged.

In the time of Rome’s early to middle era, there wasn’t much variety in women’s names. In fact, they generally were given the gens name of their father (in the feminine form), and daughters within the same family were usually distinguished from their sisters by an additional name indicating their position in the birth order.  So the first born would be Prima, the second Secunda, and the third Tertia, etcetera.

Despite the seeming lack of concern of the Romans of this period for bestowing unique names on their girls, we nevertheless have a number of lovely Roman feminine names to consider.  Those listed below are all feminine forms of the gens names that were in use by notable Roman families in the time of Rome’s Republic (509 BCE to 31 BCE), many of which are still heard today.  Those that are less familiar may make especially interesting choices for modern-day girls’ names.

AEMILIA
ANNIA
ANTONIA
AQUILLIA
AULIA
AURELIA
CAECILIA
CARISIA
CASSIA
CATIA
CLAUDIA
CORNELIA
DECIA
FABIA
FANNIA
FLAVIA
JULIA
JUNIA
LICINIA
LIVIA
LOLLIA
LUCCEIA
LUCILIA
LUCRETIA
MAEVIA
NOVIA
OCTAVIA
QUINTIA
QUINTILIA
RUBRIA
SALONIA
SALVIA
SEPTIMIA
SERGIA
SESTIA
SOSIA
TERENTIA
THORIA
TILLIA
VALERIA
VARIA
VIRGILIA
VIRGINIA

When we parse the annual Social Security list, we usually focus on the top names–what’s the new Number One, which names have made it into the Top 25, even the Top 100. But there are many names on the Popularity List that actually aren’t all that popular– certainly not commonly enough used  to deter parents who are looking for a distinctive name.

In the lower depths of the list, there are a number of neglected names that were given to fewer than 350 babies across the country last year, real hidden gems sprinkled among the more unusually configured Cloes, Alyvias and Jovanys.  These are appealing names that are recognizable to all, with real history and meaning, but which would still stand out in a crowd (or in a pre-school).

Among them are:

GIRLS

DIXIE — One of the most engaging of the saucy showgirl nickname names, with an added dash of Southern spice.

GIADA — An undiscovered Italian jewel (it translates as Jade) brought into the spotlight by celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis.

JUNE — Springtime month name starting to come back into bloom.

JUSTINE –An elegant name with deep Latin roots and a righteous meaning.

LIBBY –The lost Elizabeth nickname, sounding so much fresher than Liz and Beth–not to mention Betsy and Betty.

LILIA — A charming, rhythmic, more exotic spin on the well-used Lily.

LIVIA –Not a chopped-off version of Olivia but an ancient Roman favorite used on its own.

MARIN — A shimmering water name, distinctive and sophisticated.

MATILDA — Sweet and feminine vintage classic, with a choice of appealing nicknames–Mattie, Tilda, Tillie; hasn’t caught on despite highly visible image of Matilda Ledger.

OLIVE — Quieter alternative to trendy Olivia; young heroine of Little Miss Sunshine, and pick of cool couple Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen.

SLOANE — Sleek executive name chosen by comedian Rob Corddry.

TAMARA –With both Russian and Hebrew roots, has a dramatic, creative image.

TESS — Has a lot more substance, strength and style than most single-syllable names; a good middle name choice too.

THALIA –One of the Three Graces, and the Muse of Comedy, in Greek mythology; does at the moment tend to be associated with single-named singer.

BOYS

AUGUSTUS –Old Roman name sounding less and less fusty, especially when softened by nicknames Augie or Gus.

CASSIUS –A Shakespearean name with the patina of antiquity, plus a choice of two cool nicknames–Cass or Cash.

CONRAD –A solid, serious name with literary cred.

CULLEN — Winning Irish surname name–but in danger of increased popularity via being the surname of Edward in the popular Twilight franchise.

DARWIN –Perfect for the son of scientists, but also appealing to any parent looking for a name with a stylish sound and historic significance.

FLETCHER –An occupational (arrow-maker) name with an abundance of quirky charm.

JENSEN — An attractive, rarely heard Scandinavian surname name, attached to both a spiffy car and a current TV teen idol, Jensen Ackles–there were only 192 baby Jensens born last year.

KILLIAN — Dynamic Irish saint’s name; only possible drawback is tie to the trendy brew.

LUCIAN — Adds a gloss of Continental elan to Luke and Lucas.

MAXIMO –Lively Latin route to nickname Max, meaning ‘the greatest’–sole caveat is a link to a video game.

REUBEN –A neglected Biblical boy, resonant and rich, belonging to the founder of one of the tribes of Israel.

REX — One of the few trendy x-ending boys’ names with a real–even regal–meaning.

SEAMUS — This Irish form of James has way more substance and spunk than the dated Sean.

Many parents — more and more, it seems — wait until the baby arrives to settle on a  name.  Some want to see what it looks like and try to gauge its incipient personality (not always easy), and some want to tie it into the circumstances of the baby’s birth–a practice seen in a number of earlier cultures.  This could be the season of arrival–Summer or Autumn–or the month, as in June or January, or the day of the week, as in Sunday Rose Kidman Urban (actually born on a Monday).

Another option is commemorating the time of day or night of the baby’s arrival.  There are any number of names associated with sun and moon gods and goddesses, as well as names whose meanings refer to day and night, stars, dawn, sun and moon,  in both western and  eastern cultures. Some of them worth considering are:

DAY NAMES

ADOUR — African, meaning born at dawn
AFTERNOON
ALBA –means dawn in Italian and Spanish
ALTAN — Turkish, meaning dawn
ANATOLE — French, meaning dawn
APOLLO –Greek sun god
AROON — Thai, meaning dawn
ASA –Japanese, born at dawn (in Hebrew it means healer)
AURORA –Roman goddess of dawn
CYMBELINE — Celtic, meaning sun lord
CYRUS –Persian, meaning sun
DAG/DAGMAR/DAGNY — Scandinavian, meaning day
DANICA — Slavic, meaning morning star
DAWN
DIA/DIAZ –Italian and Spanish for day
EARLY
ELIANA/ELIANE — in Greek, daughter of the sun (in Hebrew, God has answered)
ELIO/HELIO/HELIOS–related to the Greek sun god
EOS — Greek goddess of dawn
IOLA –Greek, meaning violet-covered dawn
ISHAAN –Hindu sun god
KALINDA –Hindi, meaning the sun
LARK — the bird that sings at dawn
MATIN — morning in French
MATUTA — Spanish, goddess of the morning
MORNING
NURU — Swahili, meaning born in daylight
ORIANA — like Aurora, means sunrise
PHOEBUS — another name for the sun god Apollo
RA –Egyptian sun god
RAVI — Hindu god of the sun
ROXANNE/ROXANA — Persian, meaning dawn
SAVITA — Hindi, meaning sun (among other meanings)
SABAH/SAHAR — Arabic, meaning morning
SAMSON — Hebrew, meaning sun
SHAHAR, Hebrew, meaning morning
SIRIA/SURYA –Hindi, meaning the sun (also the name of a sun god)
SOL/SOLANA –meaning the sun
SOLEIL — sun in French
SULIEN –Welsh, meaning sun
SUNNY/SUNSHINE
TALI — Hebrew, meaning dew
TARANA — meaning born during the day in (Hausa) African (also music in Persian)
THEA — Greek goddess of light and mother of the sun
ZARIA/ZARYA — Slavic, meaning morning star
ZORA– Slavic name meaning dawn
ZORAN –Serbian, meaning light of dawn

NIGHT NAMES

AJAMBO –African, meaning born in the evening
ALTAIR –the brightest star in the constellation Aquila
ANDROMEDA — a constellation
ANNIKKI — Finnish nighttime goddess
AQUILA — a constellation
ARTEMIS –Greek moon goddess
ASTA/ASTRA — meaning star
BADAR — Arabic, meaning full moon
CASSIOPEIA–a constellation
CHANDRA — Indian moon god
CYNTHIA — Greek, related to moon goddess Artemis
DELIA — another epithet of Greek moon goddess Aretemis
DEVA — Hindu moon goddess
DIANA — Roman goddess of the moon
DIMAS — Greek, meaning sunset
ESTELLE/ESTELLA/ESTRELLA –meaning star
ESTHER — Persian, meaning star
ETOILE — French word for star
HOSHI — Japanese, meaning star
ISIS — Egyptian goddess of the sky
IZAR –means star in Basque
KAMARIA –Swahili, meaning beauty of the moon
KOKO — Native American (Blackfoot), meaning night
LAILA/LEILA//LEYA/LILA –all relate to  night in Arabic
LILITH — night monster (uh-oh) in Jewish folklore
LIVANA — Hebrew, means lunar (or white)
LUNA — Italian for moon
MOON (as in Zappa)
NEOMA — Greek, meaning new moon
NISHA — Hindi, meaning night
NOVA — A star that shines very brightly (also means new and is the name of a PBS science show)
NYX — Greek, means night; name of the Greek goddess of the night
PHOEBE — another epithet for Greek moon goddess Artemis
QAMAR –Arabic, meaning moon
RAJANI — Hindi, meaning night
RAKA — Hindi, meaning full moon
RHIANNON — Welsh goddess of the moon
SELENE/SELENA — Greek goddess of the moon
SIDRA — means of the stars in Latin
STELLA — Latin for star
VEGA — falling star in Arabic