Latinisation of names

Not to be confused with Romanization, the conversion of text written in another script into Latin (or Roman) letters, or Liturgical Latinisation.

Latinisation (or Latinization) of names, also known as onomastic Latinisation, is the practice of changing certain non-Latin names into a form that more closely fits the style, structure, and rules of Latin. The practice is found with historical proper names, including personal names and toponyms, and in the standard binomial nomenclature of the life sciences. In present-day English, the practice of using Latinised names for certain prominent individuals began in the medieval period of Europe and peaked in the Renaissance. In some cases, the individuals themselves even used or created these Latinised names.

Latinisation is distinct from romanisation, which is the transliteration of a word to the Latin alphabet, more or less letter-for-letter or sound-for-sound, from another script (e.g. the writing systems of Cyrillic, Devanagari/Hindi, Arabic, etc.). For authors writing in Latin, this change allows the name to function grammatically in a sentence through declension. Many other reasons for an author to apply this to their own name also existed, such as forming a more international identity or hiding the modest social background revealed by their origin name.

In a scientific context, the main purpose of Latinisation may be to produce a name which is internationally consistent.

Latinisation may be carried out by:

  • transforming the name into Latin sounds (e.g. Geber for Jabir), or
  • adding Latinate suffixes to the end of a name (e.g. Meibomius for Meibom), or
  • translating a name with a specific meaning into Latin (e.g. Venator for Italian Cacciatore; both mean 'hunter'), or
  • choosing a new name based on some attribute of the person (e.g. Daniel Santbech became Noviomagus, possibly from the Latin (actually Latinised Gaulish) name for the town of Nijmegen, and meaning 'new field').
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