Latin Names

Sites for Latin Translation

• Latin Notes Latin baptismal, burial and marriage entries and deciphering numbers and dates
• Genealogical Latin terms Latin words and phrases commonly encountered by genealogists
• Latin Dictionary
• Latin numbers, dates, times and genealogical terms
• Genealogy Dictionary, with some latin terms

Latin names in Catholic Records

Albertus = Albert or George

Adam (Ade) = Adam

Aedus = Hugh

Aemilia = Emily

Agna = Agnes, Nancy

Agneta = Agnes

Alanus = Alan

Albertus = Albert

Alesia, Alicia = Alice

Alfredus, Aluredus = Alfred

Alicia = Alice, Elsie, Alyssa

Alienora, Eleanora, Elianora = Eleanor

Aloisius = Aloysius, Louis, Luis

Aloysius = Aloysius or Lewis

Alvredus = Alfred

Amica, Amata, Amia = Amy

Anastasia = Anastasia or Nancy

Andreas = Andrew

Anna = Ann, Anne

Antonius = Anthony

Arcturus, Artorius, Arturus = Arthur

Audoenus, Audoinus, Oeneus, Oenus = Owen

Augustinus = Austin

Avelina = Evelyn

Bartholomeus = Bartholomew

Beatrix = Betteris, Beatrice

Benedicta (f.)= Benedict, Benet

Benedictus (m.) = Benedict, Benet

Bertrandus = Bertram

Brigida, Brigitta = Bridget, Brigid

Carolum, Carolus = Charles, Carl

Caterina, Katerina, Katharina = Catherine

Catharina = Catherine, Kathryn, Kathleen

Cecilia = Cisley, Cecily

Cecilius = Cecil

Christiana, Christina = Christine

Christophorus = Christopher

Constantia, Custancia = Constance

Daniele = Daniel

Denisia, Dionisia = Denise

Dionisius, Dionisius, Dionysius = Denis

Donatus = Duncan

Dorothea = Dorothy

Eadmundus, Edmundus = Edmund, Edmond

Eadwardus, Eduardus, Edwardus = Edward

Lena = Helen, Ellen

Elias = Ellis

Elisabetha, Elizabetha = Elizabeth, Beth, Betty,

Erchenbaldus = Archibald

Eustachius = Eustace

Eva = Eve

Felicia = Felice

Francisca (f.) = Frances

Franciscus (m.) = Francis, Frank

Fridericus = Frederick

Georgius = George

Gerardus = Gerard

Gilebertus, Gislebertus = Gilbert

Giraldus, Geroldus = Gerald

Godefridus, Godefredus = Godfrey

Goisfridus, Gosfridus = Geoffrey

Gratia = Grace

Gualterus = Walter

Guglielmus, Gulielmus, Guilhelmus, Gulielmo, Gulielmum = William

Haraldus = Harold

Helena = Helen, Ellen, Nell, Aileen, Eileen

Henricum, Henricus = Henry

Henrietta = Henrietta or Harriet

Hereweccus, Herveius = Henry

Hieremias = Jeremiah

Honorah = Nora, Norah, (Jane, Jean, Joan!)

Honoria = Honour, Honor

Hugo = Hugh

Isabella = Isabel

Ioannes, Joannes, Joannis, Johannes, Johannis = John

Jacobus = James or Jacob

Joanna, Johanna = Joan, Jane, Jeanne, Jeanette, Joanne, Sinead, Siobhan

Johanna = Jane, Joan, Jean and Honora

Josephum = Joseph

Josias = Josiah

Laurencia, Laurencius, Laurentium = Laurence, Lawrence

Lucas = Luke

Ludovicus, Lodovicus = Lewis, Louis

Malachias = Malachy

Marcus = Mark, Marcus

Margareta, Margreta = Margaret

Margeria = Margery

Maria = Mary, Maureen, Molly, Marie

Maria Anna = Mary Ann, Marian, Marianne

Mariana = Marion

Martinus = Martin

Mathaeus, Mattheus, Mathias, Matthias = Matthew

Matilda, Matildis, Matillis = Matilda, Maud

Mauricius, Meuricius = Maurice

Michaelem = Michael

Milo = Miles

Moyses = Moses

Muriella, Miriela, Mirielda = Muriel

Oliva = Olive

Patricius, Patritius = Patrick

Petrus = Peter

Philippa, Philippe = Philip

Radulfus, Radulphus = Ralph

Randolphus = Randal, Randolph

Reginaldus = Reynold

Reimundus = Raymond

Ricardus = Richard, Dick

Rugerius = Roger, Rory

Samuelem = Samuel

Stephanus = Stephen

Theodoricus = Theodore, Derek

Thomasum = Thomas

Timotheus = Timothy

Tobias = Toby

Vincencius = Vincent

Willelmus, Guillelmus= William

Some Changes in Names seen in Registers

In Latin, the spelling of a name will change depending on whether it is simply the name itself, or whether it is the name of a parent or a bride.

If you have two names in a register which to your mind should be spelled exactly the same way and they are not – then this is because the rules of Latin and the way that names should be spelled tell us whether it is the child or parent who is being named.

The name changes to indicate “son/daughter of, bride of.”

The first name is spelled as it should be and the way the parents first name ends.

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Any name ending in “us” used as the father's name should end in “i”

This combination of endings is constant for any male name that ends in ”us” e.g. Anthonius, Bartolomaeus, Cornelius, Carolus, Edwardus, Franciscus, Gulielmus, Henricus, Josephus, Patricius, Petrus, Stephanus, Timotheus.

James son of James should read : Jacobus filius Jacobi

Anthonius, filius Edwardi; (Anthony son of Edward)

Petrus, filius Stephani; (Peter son of Stephen)

Josephus, filius Patricii. Joseph son of Patrick

John son of John becomes Johannes, filius Johannis

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Any name ending in “es” or “is” in the nominative case e.g Johannes, Danielis, Micaelis takes the “is” or can remain the same:

Danielis filius Micaelis : Daniel son of Michael

Danielis filius Johannis : Daniel son of John

Johannes filius Danielis : John son of Daniel

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Names ending in “o” add “nis” to the father or the mother.

Hugo filius Hugonis : Hugh, son of Hugh

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Names ending in “a” should end in “ae” when it is the father or mother who is mentioned in the records – in most cases with Irish records the “e” is absent when it comes to Mariae.

This group includes: Anna, Brigitta, Caecilia, Catherina, Elena, Elinora, Hanoria, Honoria, Johanna, Rosa.

Maria, filia Mariae : Mary, daughter of Mary

Brigitta, filia Annae : Bridget daughter of Anne

Honoria, filia Johannae: Honoria daughter of Joan (see name list above Honora = Joan)

Catherina, filia Elenae : Catherine daughter of Helen.

Winifred should belong to this group and just becomes Winifreda

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Helen is a name that is rarely seen in parish records that are written in English up to the late 19th century. This name is usually found as Ellen in Irish parish records that are written in Latin

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Marriage can be slightly different: if the name ends in “a” the ending becomes “am”

Johannes nupsit Annam : John married Anne

Jacobus nupsit Brigittam : Jacob (James) married Bridget

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Names ending in “ix” should become “icis” in the genitive

Beatrix filia Beatricis

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There are a few odd ones, namely Thomas, Jeremias, Barnabas, Adamus, which don't fit the rules and can be found in different forms.

Thoma filius Thomae : Thomas son of Thomas

Thomas filius Thome : Thomas son of Thomas

Adamus, filius Ade or Adam : Adam son of Adam

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The name Bridget usually follows the same form in baptismal records as it should in marriage records, i.e. Bridget is often written as Bridgetam in baptismal records whereas it should read Bridgeta