Order of Hermes Naming Convention

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The Naming of Magi

by Mark D F Shirley

The Naming of Magi
by Alexander Scriptor, scholae Tytali

I am constantly amazed at the lack of regard that magi of today have for the traditions laid down by our forebears, in the early days of the Order of Hermes. Take the giving of Hermetic names, for example. Like many things in the Order, the early magi took as their precedent the conventions of ancient Rome when assigning the formal attribution of a new magus before his or her tribunal. This formal name is recorded in the tribunal records and is used for all official business. It is unique to the magus, so there can be no question to the magus's identity, although the Order even today is not of sufficient size for this to be a problem. Some derivation of the formal name is used for the day-to-day business of the magus.

So, what are the elements of a magus's formal name? As I have already mentioned, it is modelled on the pattern of Rome, and therefore has six elements:

• The Praenomen. This was the Roman's personal name, and was only used by family members. In Hermetic usage, the praenomen is the magus's vulgar name - that given to him or her by their mundane parents. The magus is likely to have some attachment to this name, having borne it for much of his childhood life, and probably thoughout apprenticeship as well. It is normally reserved for members of the same House or Covenant.

• The Nomen, or nomen genticulum. this was the Roman's surname, indicating which gens or family group they belonged to. This was the name used in everyday life by his colleagues. The nomen is the magus's Hermetic name, that chosen by his master. This is often the same as the vulgar name - in my own case, Alexander was the name given me by my mundane parents, and retained by my master. Indeed, when the magi of House Ex Miscellanea bother to use the formal naming system, they rarely make up new names to mark the passing of an apprentice and the birth of a magus.

• The Patronymium. To a Roman, the patronymic indicated who his father was. It consisted of the word "filius" (son), followed by the genitive form of his master's name. For brevity, only the nomen (and in some cases, the cognomen, see below) of the name of the parens is used. Roman women had a much less complicated system of names that was not adopted by the Order, who treat women as equal to men. A maga uses the term "filia" (daughter).

• The Nomen Patricus. The fourth element in a Roman's name was the name of which of the 35 tribes or voting districts that he belonged to. The direct Hermetic analogy of this is the House. To indicate House affiliation, we say "scholae" or "doctrinae", followed by the genitive form of the House's name. "scholae XX" indicates "of the school or sect of XX" whereas "doctrinae XX" means "of the learning or doctrine of XX". For this reason a perculiarity arises with the House of Bjornaer, who only ever use "doctrinae Bjornaeris", never "scholae Bjornaeris". Of the other Houses, only Bonisagus shows any preference between the two options, prefering "scholae Bonisagi". For those of you who cannot remember their first year latin, here are the genitive forms of the House names:
  • Bonisagi
  • Bjornaeris
  • Criamonis
  • Flambonis
  • Guernici
  • Jerbitonis
  • Mercandi
  • Merinitae
  • Tremendi
  • Tytali
  • Verditii

There are two additional points to note for the nomen patricus. Magi of House Ex Miscellanea are not "followers of Ex Miscellanea", because they do not descend from a Founder like the other Houses. Instead, the nomen patricus is simply Magus Ex Miscellanea. In addition, redcaps who lack the gift often style themselves Magus Mercurialis, though they are perfectly entitled to the usual appelation of House Mercere.

• The Cognomen. To a Roman, the cognomen was a nickname, used to distinguish between members of the same family who had the same praenomen. This usage is not required for the Hermetic name, but the cognomen has by no means been abandoned. Instead, it has become an important part of the name of a magis. It is used as a description - often a magus will adopt a cognomen appropriate to his magics or deeds. Some use the nickname given them by their masters. Most magi use their nomen and cognomen when introducing themselves - for example, the name I most commonly use is "Alexander Scriptor", the cognomen, meaning "writer" indicating my fondness for books. Magi Ex Miscellanea often use the cognomen to indicate their lineage within their House, and this practice is by no means limited to them - I know several Flambeau who use the cognomen Eversor, indicating their preference for Perdo magics, and declaring themselves to be of the lineage of Apromar.
• Origo. Finally, the origo indicated the place of origin of the Roman man, or his domicile. To the magus, this final section can indicate three things. Firstly, it can be the physcial place of origin. In most cases this takes the adjectival form, "Germanicus" for example. Else it can indicate the covenant that the person belongs to, when it takes the form "ab XX" (where XX is the ablative form of the covenant's name - "ab Malinboite" - "from Malinbois"). Finally, some magi who have switched Houses use the origo to indicate which House they were originally inducted into - "ab Flambone", "ab Bonisago", etc.

There is one final element to a formal name - the title. These are few and far between, and are placed at the beginning of the name. Currently, the only official titles recognised are Praeco, Primus, Quaesitor, Archimagus and Hoplite. the final one has difficulty in translation, being a Greek word - some use the pseudo-Latin "hoplitus", others prefer the true Latin "ultor / ultrix" (masculine and feminine forms, respectively).

To use myself as the example of a formal name:

Alexander filius Geniculi doctrinae Tytali Scriptor ab Durenmare

Note that my praenomen and nomen are the same. Common usage reduces this to just a nomen and cognomen for brevity - Alexander Scriptor.

Another example:

Quaesitor Jeanne-Marie Piacula filia Iasoni Munis scholae Jerbitonis Maioribus Claravallensis, otherwise known as Piacula Maioribus of Clairvaux.

This convention - though somewhat cumbersome, is nevertheless the invention of our Hermetic ancestors, and I urge people to return their names to their formal beauty.