Praenomen

Praenomen (pronounced PREY-no-men) is a Latin word that means "first name". In Ancient Rome, each person had three names – a praenomen, a nomen, and a cognomen. The praenomen was like our first name today – it's the name you are called by your family and close friends. The nomen was the name of a person's family or clan and the cognomen was the name of a specific branch of that family or clan. For example, Julius Caesar had the praenomen "Gaius", the nomen "Julius", and the cognomen "Caesar".