Praenomina Frequency in the Major Gentes of the Republic

[Nephele]

We're all familiar with the fact that the Romans had very few praenomina in common use, and that some gentes were more inclined toward the use of certain praenomina. Such as the Claudii who, during the time of the Republic, appear to have used the praenomen of "Appius" exclusively (later on we find other gentes, particularly the Annii, using the praenomen of "Appius"). And the Aemilii, who appear to have used the praenomen of "Mamercus" exclusively.

 

I present here a statistical survey of praenomina frequency in major gentes of the Republic. I am defining these major gentes as being those which provided a minimum of 15 magistrates throughout the time of the Republic, as identified by both praenomen and nomen gentilicium in Broughton's Magistrates of the Roman Republic.

 

Nomina gentilicia taken from Broughton are listed below alphabetically, followed by their associated praenomina with the frequency of appearance of these praenomina (among the Republican magistrates) in parentheses.

 

Where certain praenomina made up 25 percent or more of the total names within a represented gens, I have highlighted these praenomina in bold.

 

 

ACILIUS: Manius (11), Marcus (4), Lucius (2)

 

AELIUS: Gaius (5), Publius (5), Quintus (4), Lucius (3), Sextus (1), Titus (1)

 

AEMILIUS: Marcus (22), Lucius (13), Manius (4), Quintus (3), Gaius (2), Mamercus (2), Publius (2), Tiberius (2), Titus (2), Paullus (1)

 

ANNIUS: Titus (7), Gaius (5), Lucius (4), Marcus (2), Publius (2), Quintus (2), Sextus (1)

 

ANTISTIUS: Lucius (7), Gaius (4), Marcus (2), Aulus (1), Pacuvius (1), Publius (1), Sextus (1), Tiberius (1), Titus (1)

 

ANTONIUS: Marcus (6), Quintus (3), Gaius (2), Aulus (1), Decimus (1), Lucius (1), Titus (1)

 

APPULEIUS: Lucius (7), Gaius (3), Marcus (3), Quintus (2), Sextus (2), Gnaeus (1), Publius (1)

 

AQUILLIUS: Manius (6), Gaius (3), Lucius (3), Publius (3)

 

ATILIUS: Marcus (10), Lucius (9), Gaius (7), Publius (3), Aulus (2), Sextus (2)

 

AURELIUS: Lucius (10), Marcus (7), Gaius (5), Publius (1)

 

BAEBIUS: Quintus (5), Gaius (3), Marcus (3), Gnaeus (2), Lucius (2), Aulus (1)

 

CAECILIUS: Quintus (17), Lucius (10), Marcus (7), Gaius (6), Aulus (2)

 

CASSIUS: Lucius (9), Gaius (7), Quintus (4), Marcus (1), Spurius (1)

 

CALPURNIUS: Lucius (15), Gnaeus (6), Gaius (5), Marcus (4), Quintus (2), Publius (1)

 

CLAUDIUS: Gaius (22), Appius (19), Marcus (17), Tiberius (9), Publius (6), Quintus (3), Lucius (2)

 

CORNELIUS: Publius (62), Lucius (44), Gnaeus (34), Aulus (10), Servius (10), Marcus (9), Gaius (5), Faustus (1), Quintus (1)

 

DOMITIUS: Gnaeus (12), Lucius (3), Marcus (2)

 

FABIUS: Quintus (29), Gaius (12), Marcus (10), Numerius (6), Kaeso (5), Lucius (3), Gnaeus (2)

 

FONTEIUS: Manius (4), Gaius (3), Publius (3), Marcus (2), Aulus (1), Tiberius (1), Titus (1)

 

FULVIUS: Marcus (10), Gnaeus (7), Quintus (7), Gaius (4), Servius (2), Aulus (1), Lucius (1), Publius (1)

 

FURIUS: Lucius (19), Gaius (6), Marcus (6), Spurius (6), Publius (5), Agrippa (2), Quintus (1), Sextus (1)

 

GENUCIUS: Lucius (6), Gnaeus (3), Gaius (2), Marcus (2), Titus (2)

 

HOSTILIUS: Lucius (6), Gaius (5), Aulus (3), Publius (1), Tullus (1)

 

IULIUS: Lucius (17), Gaius (13), Sextus (7), Gnaeus (2), Vopiscus (1)

 

IUNIUS: Marcus (21), Decimus (12), Gaius (6), Lucius (6), Publius (3), Quintus (2), Titus (2)

 

LICINIUS: Gaius (17), Publius (15), Lucius (11), Marcus (8), Aulus (3), Sextus (1), Spurius (1)

 

LUCRETIUS: Lucius (4), Marcus (4), Spurius (3), Publius (2), Quintus (2), Gaius (1), Gnaeus (1), Hostus (1), Titus (1)

 

MANLIUS: Aulus (17), Lucius (14), Titus (10), Gnaeus (5), Publius (4), Marcus (3), Quintus (2), Gaius (1)

 

MARCIUS: Quintus (18), Lucius (9), Gaius (7), Marcus (5), Gnaeus (2), Manius (1), Publius (1)

 

MEMMIUS: Gaius (7), Lucius (6), Quintus (1), Titus (1)

 

MINUCIUS: Quintus (9), Marcus (8), Lucius (5), Gaius (3), Tiberius (3), Publius (2), Spurius (1), Titus (1)

 

OCTAVIUS: Gnaeus (10), Marcus (6), Gaius (3), Lucius (3), Publius (1)

 

PAPIRIUS: Lucius (19), Gaius (13), Marcus (7), Gnaeus (2), Manius (2), Spurius (2), Publius (1), Quintus (1), Tiberius (1)

 

PLAUTIUS: Gaius (10), Lucius (7), Marcus (4), Publius (3), Aulus (2)

 

POMPEIUS: Gnaeus (6), Quintus (5), Sextus (4), Aulus (3), Lucius (1), Marcus (1), Titus (1)

 

POMPONIUS: Marcus (12), Lucius (3), Quintus (3), Aulus (1), Gaius (1), Gnaeus (1), Manius (1), Sextus (1), Titus (1)

 

POPILLIUS: Gaius (7), Publius (6), Marcus (5), Quintus (1), Titus (1)

 

PORCIUS: Marcus (10), Lucius (5), Publius (3), Gaius (2)

 

POSTUMIUS: Lucius (14), Aulus (12), Spurius (8), Marcus (4), Gaius (2), Publius (2), Quintus (1)

 

QUINCTIUS: Titus (13), Lucius (9), Gaius (2), Quintus (2), Caeso (1), Decimus (1), Gnaeus (1), Kaeso (1), Tiberius (1)

 

SEMPRONIUS: Gaius (14), Tiberius (12), Publius (7), Aulus (6), Lucius (5), Marcus (5), Titus (2)

 

SERGIUS: Marcus (7), Lucius (4), Manius (3), Gaius (2), Gnaeus (1), Publius (1)

 

SERVILIUS: Gaius (18), Quintus (12), Publius (10), Gnaeus (6), Marcus (5), Spurius (3), Lucius (1)

 

SULPICIUS: Servius (15), Gaius (14), Publius (7), Quintus (5), Lucius (1)

 

TERENTIUS: Aulus (5), Gaius (4), Marcus (3), Quintus (3), Gnaeus (1), Lucius (1), Publius (1)

 

VALERIUS: Marcus (25), Lucius (20), Gaius (12), Publius (8), Manius (5), Quintus (3)

 

VERGINIUS: Aulus (5), Lucius (5), Titus (3), Opiter (2), Proculus (2), Spurius (1)

 

VETURIUS: Lucius (4), Titus (3), Gaius (3), Spurius (2), Tiberius (2), Marcus (1), Publius (1)

 

-- Nephele

[Gaius Paulinus Maximus]

I just love it when you provide us with these list's Neph, I find the whole Nomina et gentes thing fascinating, combine that with the whole statistical thing which I also love and you're definitely on to a winner with me.

 

From the statistical survey you presented I've compiled a top five of the most popular praenomina throughout the major gentes of the Republic.

 

1. Lucius (352)

 

2. Marcus (273)

 

3. Gaius (255)

 

4. Publius (175)

 

5. Quintus (151)

 

The top five gens providing the most Praenomina.

 

1. Cornelius (178)

 

2. Claudius (78)

 

3. Valerius (73)

 

4. Fabius (67)

 

5. Licinius/Manilus (56)

 

Of the 48 gens there was 26 praenomina with a total of 1684 members.

 

The top five praenomina alone accounted for 1206 members.

[Nephele]

Thanks, GPM! And... oh my gosh, this is spooky but, while you were compiling the top five most popular praenomina, I was doing the same thing! I think you and I must be on the same wavelength!

 

As for those top five gentes providing the most praenomina, that you compiled, those are actually the top five gentes providing the most magistrates during the time of the Republic. So that's why it appears that they provided the most praenomina.

 

Anyway, my stats differed slightly from yours, regarding the most common praenomina among the gentes. Out of the 48 gentes and 1,670 individuals represented in my survey that I counted, a total of 27 different praenomina are represented.

 

Each of these 27 praenomina is listed below, from most common to least common. The first number next to each praenomen represents the total occurrences of that praenomen in my survey. The next number in parentheses represents the total number of gentes in which that praenomen occurs. For those praenomina which only occurred in three or fewer gentes, I've listed the names of those gentes using that praenomen. The third number represents that praenomen's percent of frequency out of the total 1,670.

 

Lucius 353 (46) 21%

Gaius 278 (44) 17%

Marcus 273 (40) 16%

Publius 175 (34) 10%

Quintus 153 (30) 9%

Gnaeus 105 (20) 6%

Aulus 76 (18) 5%

Titus 54 (19) 3%

Manius 37 (9) 2%

Tiberius 32 (9) 2%

Spurius 28 (10) 2%

Servius 27 (3-Cornelius, Fulvius, Sulpicius) 1%

Sextus 21 (10) 1%

Appius 19 (1-Claudius) 1%

Decimus 12 (3-Antonius, Iunius, Quinctius) 1%

Caeso/Kaeso 7 (2-Fabius, Quinctius) less than 1%

Numerius 6 (1-Fabius) less than 1%

Agrippa 2 (1-Furius) less than 1%

Mamercus 2 (1-Aemilius) less than 1%

Opiter 2 (1-Verginius) less than 1%

Proculus 2 (1-Verginius) less than 1%

Hostus 1 (1-Lucretius) less than 1%

Faustus 1 (1-Cornelius) less than 1%

Pacuvius 1 (1-Antistius) less than 1%

Paullus 1 (1-Aemilius) less than 1%

Tullus 1 (1-Hostilius) less than 1%

Vopiscus 1 (1-Iulius) less than 1%

 

-- Nephele

[Gaius Paulinus Maximus]

Nephele, I bow my head to your superior statistical knowledge, after a quick re-count it appears that my numbers were slightly out, I missed a few Gaius's here and there!

 

But never mind, I still thoroughly enjoyed doing it. (but I won't give up my day job!!! )

 

More of the same please Neph