Guidelines for finding the nominative of Latin Personal Names
1st Declension (-a, -ae):
| Nom. |
Mari-a |
| Gen. |
Mari-ae |
| Dat. |
Mari-ae |
| Acc. |
Mari-am |
| Abl. |
Mari-a |
2nd Declension (-us, -i):
| Nom. |
Nicola-us |
Alexander |
| Gen. |
Nicola-i |
Alexandr-i |
| Dat. |
Nicola-o |
Alexandr-o |
| Acc. |
Nicola-um |
Alexandr-um |
| Abl. |
Nicola-o |
Alexandr-o |
3rd Declension:
| Nom. |
Joannes |
Leo |
Caesar |
| Gen. |
Joann-is |
Leon-is |
Caesar-is |
| Dat. |
Joann-i |
Leon-i |
Caesar-i |
| Acc. |
Joann-em |
Leon-em |
Caesar-em |
| Abl. |
Joann-e |
Leon-e |
Caesar-e |
A few more guidelines ...
- Latin masculine names are predominantly 2nd or 3rd
declension (but there are a few exceptions that are 1st declension and they
should end in -a). Feminine names are generally 1st declension.
- Two major practices seem to be present in the
formation of masculine names in Latin:
- Either a name is Latinized into a standard 2nd
declension form (e.g. Henricus, Iacobus, etc.), causing it to have the usual
-us form in the nominative
- Or else it keeps its usual form in the nominative
case and is declined only in the other cases either following 2nd declension
(e.g. Alexander, -dri) or, more often, the 3rd declension (e.g. Joannes,
-is, or Leo, -nis, etc.).
- Names seem to usually only follow the first three
declensions.
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