A woman usually did not have the praenomen and agnomen, unless the parents chose to give her those.

It was therefore necessary to use other names (cognomen and later, agnomen) to distinguish between individuals.

And some names appear to have been used both as praenomen, agnomen, or non-hereditary cognomen.

The conquest agnomen of Ponticus is sometimes falsely appended to his name in modern texts.

As a minimum, a Roman agnomen is a name attached to an individual's full titulature after birth and formal naming by the family.

Crassus likewise did not receive the agnomen of Scythicus to commemorate his victory.

A common agnomen was Pius, for someone who displayed virtues like honesty, reverence to the gods, or devotion to family and state.

Scipio was welcomed back to Rome in triumph with the agnomen of Africanus.

Regillensis was an agnomen of the Albini.

Mummius was the first novus homo of plebeian origin to receive an agnomen for military services.

For his services Scipio Aemilianus received the additional agnomen of "Numantinus".

He was given the agnomen (nickname) "Pius" because of his constant and unbending attempts to have his father officially recalled from exile.

An agnomen is not a pseudonym, but a real name; agnomina are additions to, not substitutions for, an individual's full name.

The cognomen Messalla, frequently written Messala, was originally an agnomen, meaning "of Messana."

The agnomen of Cáer, the swan maiden, is Ibormeith [yew berry].

However, as the agnomen was an additional and optional component in a Roman name, not all Romans had an agnomen (at least not recorded).

Caligula's agnomen came from the little boots he wore as part of his miniature soldier's uniform while accompanying his father Germanicus on campaigns in northern Germania.

While still young, his father leaves his mother and the family home to live with another woman, changing his agnomen (a form of nickname) from Favonius to "Geminus".

True praenomina, however, could be assigned to anyone within the customary usage of their clan, but Drusus could only be used in lines that had it as an agnomen.

Roman Military commanders often took a second cognomen, an agnomen, recalling a victorious campaign: Africanus, Asiaticus, Macedonicus, Numantinus.

Martius returns to Rome victorious and in recognition of his great courage, General Cominius (John Kani) gives him the agnomen of "Coriolanus."

Some, like Livia Drusilla and Agrippina the Younger, were awarded with the agnomen of Augusta ("Majestic"), a parallel of their husbands' (Augustus).

It may also have been the case that some families used an agnomen in order to distinguish individuals, especially when there was a famous cognomen which they wanted all their sons to be able to bear.

Some of the gentes of the Roman republic were proud of their Sabine heritage, such as the Claudia gens, assuming Sabinus as a cognomen or agnomen.

After the cognomen became hereditary and lost its function as a nickname, a second nickname, or agnomen, was appended to the name after birth-usually not immediately-to signify some personal characteristic or accomplishment.