Editing Roman naming conventions (section)

==Filiation==
{{refimprove section|date = March 2023}}
Apart from the praenomen, the ''filiation'' was the oldest element of the Roman name. Even before the development of the nomen as a hereditary surname, it was customary to use the name of a person's father as a means of distinguishing him or her from others with the same personal name, like a [[patronymic]]; thus Lucius, the son of Marcus, would be ''Lucius, Marci filius''; Paulla, the daughter of Quintus, would be ''Paulla, Quinti filia''. Many nomina were derived in the same way, and most praenomina have at least one corresponding nomen, such as Lucilius, Marcius, Publilius, Quinctius, or Servilius. These are known as patronymic surnames, because they are derived from the name of the original bearer's father. Even after the development of the nomen and cognomen, filiation remained a useful means of distinguishing between members of a large family.<ref name="Harper's:Nomen"/>

[[File:Dedicatory inscription Ostia Antica 2006-09-08.jpg|thumb|400px|&nbsp;&nbsp;"Dedicated by the emperor Caesar, son of the divine [[Marcus Aurelius|Marcus Antoninus Pius]], brother of the divine [[Commodus]], grandson of the divine [[Antoninus Pius]], great-grandson of the divine [[Hadrian]], great-great-grandson of the divine [[Trajan]], conqueror of Parthia, great-great-great-grandson of the divine [[Nerva]], [[Septimius Severus|Lucius Septimius Severus Pius Pertinax Augustus Arabicus Adiabenicus]], father of his country, Pontifex Maximus, holding the tribunician power for the fourth year, in the eighth year of his imperium, consul for the second time; and [[Caracalla|Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Caesar]]"]]
Filiations were normally written between the nomen and any cognomina, and abbreviated using the typical abbreviations for praenomina, followed by {{Smallcaps|f.}} for ''filius'' or ''filia'', and sometimes {{Smallcaps|n.}} for ''nepos'' (grandson) or ''neptis'' (granddaughter). Thus, the inscription {{Smallcaps|S. Postumius A. f. P. n. Albus Regillensis}} means "Spurius Postumius Albus Regillensis, of Aulus the son, of Publius the grandson". "Tiberius Aemilius Mamercinus, the son of Lucius and grandson of Mamercus" would be written {{Smallcaps|Ti. Aemilius L. f. Mam. n. Mamercinus}}. The more formal the writing, the more generations might be included; a great-grandchild would be {{Smallcaps|pron.}} or {{Smallcaps|pronep.}} for ''pronepos'' or ''proneptis'', a great-great-grandchild {{Smallcaps|abn.}} or {{Smallcaps|abnep.}} for ''abnepos'' or ''abneptis'', and a great-great-great-grandchild ''adnepos'' or ''adneptis''.{{efn-lr|Also spelled ''atnepos'' and ''atneptis''.}} However, these forms are rarely included as part of a name, except on the grandest of monumental inscriptions.<ref>[[James Chidester Egbert, Jr.]], ''Introduction to the Study of Latin Inscriptions'' (American Book Company, 1896).</ref>

The filiation sometimes included the name of the mother, in which case ''gnatus''{{efn-lr|Also spelled ''natus''; this could be abbreviated {{Smallcaps|gn.}}, {{Smallcaps|gnat.}}, or, perhaps confusingly, {{Smallcaps|n.}}}} would follow the mother's name, instead of ''filius'' or ''filia''.{{efn-lr|Evidently there were exceptions to this as well. [[Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum|CIL]] ii. 4566 gives the name {{Smallcaps|Fabia Domitia Ɔ. f. Secunda}}, in which Ɔ. f. can only be read "Gaiae filia" (the use of an inverted {{Smallcaps|C.}} for "Gaia" was common in the filiations of freedmen, but apparently not restricted to them; see below); this may be the same woman referred to as {{Smallcaps|Fabia Domitia D. f. Secunda}}, CIL ii. 1806, in the latter case giving her father's name. Both inscriptions are from Roman Spain, and are also notable for the doubled nomen and for the cognomen Secunda, which in this case is really a praenomen placed after the filiation, a common practice in Roman women's names of this period.}} This is especially common in families of [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]] origin. The names of married women were sometimes followed by the husband's name and ''uxor'' for "wife". {{Smallcaps|N. Fabius Q. f. M. n. Furia gnatus Maximus}} means "Numerius Fabius Maximus, son of Quintus, grandson of Marcus, born of Furia",{{efn-lr|Note that while the names of the father and grandfather are genitive (''Quinti filius, Marci nepos''), the mother's name is ablative; the translation "born of" is simply idiomatic in English. "Born to" would also be idiomatic, but could imply the dative case.}} while {{Smallcaps|Claudia L. Valeri uxor}} would be "Claudia, wife of Lucius Valerius".

[[Slavery in ancient Rome|Slaves]] and [[Slavery in ancient Rome|freedmen]] also possessed filiations, although in this case the person referred to is usually the slave's owner, rather than his or her father. The abbreviations here include {{Smallcaps|s.}} for ''servus'' or ''serva'' and {{Smallcaps|l.}} for ''libertus'' or ''liberta''. A slave might have more than one owner, in which case the names could be given serially. In some cases the owner's nomen or cognomen was used instead of or in addition to the praenomen. The ''liberti'' of women sometimes used an inverted "C", signifying the feminine praenomen ''Gaia'', here used generically to mean any woman; and there are a few examples of an inverted "M", although it is not clear whether this was used generically, or specifically for the feminine praenomen ''Marca'' or ''Marcia''.<ref name="Chase"/>

An example of the filiation of slaves and freedmen would be: {{Smallcaps|Alexander Corneli L. s.}}, "Alexander, slave of Lucius Cornelius", who upon his emancipation would probably become {{Smallcaps|L. Cornelius L. l. Alexander}}, "Lucius Cornelius Alexander, freedman of Lucius"; it was customary for a freedman to take the praenomen of his former owner, if he did not already have one, and to use his original personal name as a cognomen. Another example might be {{Smallcaps|Salvia Pompeia Cn. Ɔ. l.}}, "Salvia Pompeia, freedwoman of Gnaeus (Pompeius) and Gaia"; here ''Gaia'' is used generically, irrespective of whether Pompeius' wife was actually named ''Gaia''. A freedman of the emperor might have the filiation {{Smallcaps|Aug. l.}}, ''Augusti libertus''.

Although filiation was common throughout the history of the Republic and well into imperial times, no law governed its use or inclusion in writing. It was used by custom and for convenience, but could be ignored or discarded, as it suited the needs of the writer.