:''This page is about the Latin praenomen. For a list of prominent individuals with this name, see Paullus.'' Paullus ( or ) is a Latin ''

praenomen The praenomen (; plural: praenomina) was a first name chosen by the parents of a Ancient Rome, Roman child. It was first bestowed on the ''dies lustricus'' (day of lustration), the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the ...

'', or

personal name A personal name, full name or prosoponym (from Ancient Greek ''prósōpon'' – person, and ''onoma'' –name) is the set of names by which an individual person or animal is known. When taken together as a word-group, they all relate to that on ...

, used throughout Roman history. The masculine form was not particularly common at Rome, but the feminine form, ''Paulla'' or ''Polla'', is one of the most common praenomina. The name was later used as a ''

cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; : ''cognomina''; from ''co-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditar ...

'' in many families. It was not normally abbreviated, but is sometimes found with the abbreviation Paul. The masculine praenomen Paullus was not widely used at Rome, but was used by ''gentes Aemilia'' and ''Fabia'', which also used it as a cognomen. Both ''gentes'' had a long history of using rare and archaic praenomina. The name was probably more widespread amongst the plebeians and in the countryside. Many other families which used Paullus as a cognomen may originally have used it as a praenomen. The feminine form, Paulla or Polla, was one of the most common praenomina in both patrician and plebeian gentes, including the

Aemilii The gens Aemilia, originally written Aimilia, was one of the greatest patrician families at ancient Rome. The gens was of great antiquity, and claimed descent from Numa Pompilius, the second King of Rome. Its members held the highest offices ...

, Caecilii,

Cornelii The gens Cornelia was one of the greatest patrician houses at ancient Rome. For more than seven hundred years, from the early decades of the Republic to the third century AD, the Cornelii produced more eminent statesmen and generals than any othe ...

Flaminii A (plural ''flamines'') was a priest of the ancient Roman religion who was assigned to one of fifteen deities with official cults during the Roman Republic. The most important of these were the three (or "major priests"), who served the importa ...

Fulvii The gens Fulvia, originally Foulvia, was one of the most illustrious plebeian families at ancient Rome. Members of this gens first came to prominence during the middle Republic; the first to attain the consulship was Lucius Fulvius Curvus in 322 ...

Licinii The gens Licinia was a celebrated plebeian family at ancient Rome, which appears from the earliest days of the Republic until imperial times, and which eventually obtained the imperial dignity. The first of the gens to obtain the consulship was ...

, Minucii, Sergii, Servilii,

Sulpicii The gens Sulpicia was one of the most ancient Patrician (ancient Rome), patrician families at ancient Rome, and produced a succession of distinguished men, from the foundation of the Roman Republic, Republic to the Roman Empire, imperial period. ...

, and

Valerii The gens Valeria was a patrician family at ancient Rome, prominent from the very beginning of the Republic to the latest period of the Empire. Publius Valerius Poplicola was one of the consuls in 509 BC, the year that saw the overthrow of the ...

. The name has survived into modern times.

Origin and meaning

''Paullus'' is the Latin word for ''small''. Chase believed that the name was originally a cognomen that was occasionally used as a praenomen, but this opinion seems inconsistent with the usual practice, and the frequency with which the feminine form of the name was used as a praenomen. Most, if not all praenomina had both masculine and feminine forms. The prominence of Paulla at all periods of Roman history seems to indicate that Paullus was originally a praenomen which had fallen out of general use, but which was still used from time to time.Mika Kajava, ''Roman Female Praenomina: Studies in the Nomenclature of Roman Women'' (1994)

Notes

{{Praenomina Ancient Roman praenomina