Names in Ancient Rome

This weekend I watched Meet the Romans (it’s available on Amazon Prime if you’re a member). Loved it! The fabulous Mary Beard is a great host and I love how she focuses on the daily life of average people. If you ever go to a museum with me, I’ll drag you to the exhibit that has things like hairbrushes and cooking utensils. I love to see these everyday kind of objects because I find it really interesting to compare modern life with these other time periods and see how much we still have in common.

The reason I’m writing about this show is because Ms. Beard seems to be a kindred spirit where names are concerned. In the show, she points out some of her favorite/interesting names and stories:

An awesome tomboy with red hair and… a mullet?:

Geminiae Agathe

A murder victim and his wife (who made his tombstone):

Julius Timotheus

Otacilia Narcissa

Young girl killed in a fire:

Doris

A couple who ran an inn:

Lucius Calidius Eroticus (!) – Ms. Beard translates this to “Mr. Hot Sex” (!!)

Fannia Voluptati – this one is “Madame Gorgeous”

What was going on in this inn…?

Similarly…

Vettia Erotice

A few other young girls who met tragic ends:

Primae Florentia

Miniciae Marcellae

Junia (one of my all-time favorite names from Ancient Rome)

An ex-slave with a surprising domestic life (you’ll have to watch this one for yourself):

Allia (very pretty name!)

Ms. Beard and I even had a mini-Twitter chat about our favorite Ancient Roman names:

https://twitter.com/amandaebarden/status/841061858274496512

More Baby Name Ideas

For more baby name ideas, get a copy of my book Baby Names Made Easy.

Happy naming ♥ Amanda

PS – Please forgive any misspellings – the tombstones and signs were sometimes difficult to read.