Gnaeus (praenomen)

This article is about the Latin praenomen. For a list of prominent Romans with this name, see Gnaeus (disambiguation).

Gnaeus (/ˈ(ɡ)naɪəs, ˈniːəs/ (G)NY-əs, NEE-əs, Latin: [ˈŋnae̯.ʊs]), feminine Gnaea, is a Latin praenomen, or personal name, which was common throughout the period of the Roman Republic, and well into imperial times. The praenomen was used by both patrician and plebeian families, and gave rise to the patronymic gens Naevia. The name was regularly abbreviated Cn., based on the archaic spelling, Cnaeus, dating from the period before the letters "C" and "G" were differentiated.[1][2][3]

For most of Roman history, Gnaeus was one of the ten most common praenomina, being less common than Titus, the sixth most common praenomen, and comparable in frequency to Aulus, Spurius, and Sextus. Although the name was used by a minority of families at Rome, it was favored by a number of prominent gentes, including the Cornelii, Domitii, Manlii, and Servilii. The name gradually became less common in imperial times.[4][5]

  1. ^ William Smith, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities
  2. ^ De Praenominibus (epitome by Julius Paris)
  3. ^ Mika Kajava, Roman Female Praenomina: Studies in the Nomenclature of Roman Women (1994)
  4. ^ Dictionary of Greek & Roman Biography & Mythology
  5. ^ Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft