Patrial name

A patrial name or geographical surname is a surname or second cognomen given to person deriving from a toponym, the name for a geographical place. It was particularly common in ancient Greece and Rome.^[1] The lack of a family surname and use of a geographical cognomen as a surname may the sign of a lower class, such as courtesans when signing a contract.^[2] With medieval writers, Christian, Jewish and Muslim, whose works circulated around many countries, geographical cognomens sometimes served to distinguish better than "son of," "ben" or "ibn."

Roman Military commanders often took a second cognomen, an agnomen, recalling a victorious campaign: Africanus, Asiaticus, Macedonicus, Numantinus. These may be inherited as in the case of Augustus who inherited the cognomen Thurinus.

^ The New Century classical handbook Catherine B. Avery - 1962 "Toponyms (place names) also appear: Coriolanus, Norbanus, Sabinus, Soranus, Tusculanus.
^ Molière: A Theatrical Life - Page 42 Virginia Scott - 2002 "Taviani identifies Lucrezia as a courtesan because of her name that, in the fashion of courtesans, joins a Roman first name to a geographical surname and because the contract was signed in a house owned or leased by her at a time when "

[1] The New Century classical handbook Catherine B. Avery - 1962 "Toponyms (place names) also appear: Coriolanus, Norbanus, Sabinus, Soranus, Tusculanus.

[2] Molière: A Theatrical Life - Page 42 Virginia Scott - 2002 "Taviani identifies Lucrezia as a courtesan because of her name that, in the fashion of courtesans, joins a Roman first name to a geographical surname and because the contract was signed in a house owned or leased by her at a time when "

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