NAME

(Lat. nomen; Germ, nome; Fr. nom.) The designation by which any individual is known. The custom adopted in personal nomenclature has been based on some uniform principle since the earliest ages; modified, however, by the varying circumstances of different countries, and according to the more or le advanced state of civilization of every people. Thus in the early state of society of the Jews, Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Germans, Gauls, Britons, and indeed of every nation, no individual had more than one name; but in a more advanced or refined period one or more additional names were given, in order to mark the different families to which individuals belonged, as well as to distinguish members of the same family from each other. To effect these objects the ancient Romans, at least those of good family, generally used three names, — the prcenomen, the nomen, and the cognomen; the first, which was given on the a umption of the toga t»eV?fe, marked the individual, like our Christian name; the second distinguished the gens (which see), and the third the familia (which see), to which he belonged. To these, however, was sometimes added a fourth name, called the agnomen, which was derived from some distinguishing peculiarities in each individual's character or condition; thus Publius Cornel i us Scipio was named African us, from his exploits in Africa. The mode of designation adopted in all the countries of modern Europe is founded on a principle somewhat analogous to that of ancient Rome; with this prominent difference, that in the former no nomen or clan appellation intervenes between the prcenomen (or Christian name) and the cognomen (or surname). It would be difficult to give any satisfactory reasons for the adoption of the Christian and surnames most commonly met with among ourselves. Those who are inclined to prosecute inquiry into this comparatively untouched subject, will find some ingenious hints for their guidance in the Penny Cyclo padi a (art. " Names, Proper "), to which we beg to refer. See Surname. [s. 817]