# Latinisation of names > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Latinisation_of_names > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Latinisation_of_names.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinisation_of_names > Source revision: 1343614546 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Practice of rendering a non-Latin name in a Latin style}} {{Distinguish|text=[Romanization](/source/Romanization), the conversion of text written in another script into Latin (or Roman) letters, or [Liturgical Latinisation](/source/Liturgical_Latinisation)}} {{Use British English|date=October 2017}} '''Latinisation''' (or '''Latinization'''){{cite web |url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/latinize |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027232816/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/latinize |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 27, 2017 |title=Latinize – definition of Latinize in English |publisher=Oxford Dictionaries }} '''of names''', also known as '''onomastic Latinisation''', is the practice of changing certain non-[Latin](/source/Latin) names into a form that more closely fits the [style, structure, and rules of Latin](/source/Neo-Latin). The practice is found with historical [proper names](/source/proper_names), including [personal name](/source/personal_name)s and [toponym](/source/toponym)s, and in the standard [binomial nomenclature](/source/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](/source/medieval_period) of Europe and peaked in the [Renaissance](/source/Renaissance). In some cases, the individuals themselves even used or created these Latinised names. Latinisation is distinct from [romanisation](/source/romanisation), which is the [transliteration](/source/transliteration) of a word to the [Latin alphabet](/source/Latin_alphabet), more or less letter-for-letter or sound-for-sound, from another script (e.g. the writing systems of [Cyrillic](/source/Cyrillic), [Devanagari/Hindi](/source/Devanagari), [Arabic](/source/Arabic_script), etc.). For authors writing in Latin, this change allows the name to function grammatically in a sentence through [declension](/source/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. {{lang|la|[Geber](/source/Geber_(disambiguation))}} for {{Transliteration|ar|[Jabir](/source/Jabir_(name))}}), or * adding Latinate suffixes to the end of a name (e.g. {{lang|la|Meibomius}} for ''[Meibom](/source/Heinrich_Meibom_(doctor))),'' or * translating a name with a specific meaning into Latin (e.g. {{lang|la|Venator}} for Italian {{lang|it|Cacciatore}}; both mean 'hunter'), or * choosing a new name based on some attribute of the person (e.g. [Daniel Santbech](/source/Daniel_Santbech) became {{lang|la|Noviomagus}}, possibly from the Latin (actually Latinised [Gaulish](/source/Gaulish)) name for the town of [Nijmegen](/source/Nijmegen), and meaning 'new field'). == Personal names == {{see also|List of Latinised names}} [[File:De Verborum frontispiece.jpg|thumb|[Frontispiece](/source/Book_frontispiece) of a 1743 legal text by [Barnabé Brisson](/source/Barnab%C3%A9_Brisson) shows his name Latinised in the genitive {{lang|la|Barnabae Brissonii}} ('of {{lang|la|Barnabas Brissonius}}'). Barnabas is itself a Greek version of an Aramaic name.]] English, and sometimes other modern European languages, use Latinised names for certain historical figures from the medieval and particularly Renaissance periods, or in references that begin in the Renaissance to even older figures. [Renaissance humanist](/source/Renaissance_humanist)s largely assumed Latinised names, though in some cases (e.g. [Melanchthon](/source/Melanchthon)) they invoked [Ancient Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek). For instance, [Beatus Bild](/source/Beatus_Bild) from [Rhinau](/source/Rhinau) assumed the Latinised named Beatus Rhenanus. Latinisation in humanist names may consist of translation from vernacular European languages, sometimes involving a playful element of [pun](/source/pun)ning. Such names could also be a cover for humble social origins.{{cite web|url=http://www.phil-hum-ren.uni-muenchen.de/GermLat/Acta/Bernstein.htm |first1=Eckhard |last1=Bernstein |date=2002-08-20 |title=Group Identity Formation in the German Renaissance Humanists: The Function of Latin |publisher=Institute for Renaissance Intellectual History and Renaissance Philosophy, [University of Munich](/source/University_of_Munich) |access-date=2013-03-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605230457/http://www.phil-hum-ren.uni-muenchen.de/GermLat/Acta/Bernstein.htm |archive-date= Jun 5, 2013 }} The title of the "[Wilhelmus](/source/Wilhelmus)", [national anthem](/source/national_anthem) of the [Netherlands](/source/Kingdom_of_the_Netherlands), preserves a Latinised form of the name of [William the Silent](/source/William_the_Silent).[http://www.national-anthems.org/facts.htm national-anthems.org – "Facts About National Anthems"]. === Notable examples === Some English examples of Latinised names that are typical for certain historical figures include: *The ancient Chinese philosopher [Confucius](/source/Confucius), from his Chinese name ''Kong Fuzi'' ({{literally|Master Kong}}) *The ancient Chinese philosopher [Mencius](/source/Mencius), from his Chinese name ''Mengzi'' ({{literally|Master Meng}}) *The [Islamic Golden Age](/source/Islamic_Golden_Age) philosopher and medical scholar [Avicenna](/source/Avicenna), from his Arabic name ''ibn Sina'' ({{literally|male descendant of Sina}}) *The German Christian scholar and saint [Albertus Magnus](/source/Albertus_Magnus), meaning ''Albert the Great'', from the original German ''Albert'' *The Italian Christian scholar and saint [Thomas Aquinas](/source/Thomas_Aquinas), originally the Italian ''Tommaso'' plus his hometown of ''[Aquino](/source/Aquino%2C_Italy)'' *The Scottish Christian scholar [Duns Scotus](/source/Duns_Scotus), meaning ''Duns the Scot'' *The [Netherlandish art](/source/Netherlandish_art)ist [Hieronymus Bosch](/source/Hieronymus_Bosch), originally the Dutch ''Jheronimus'' plus his hometown of ''[The Bosch](/source/'s-Hertogenbosch)'' *The explorer [Columbus](/source/Christopher_Columbus), from his original [Western Romance](/source/Western_Romance) name of ''Corombo'' or ''Colombo'' *The [Polish-Prussian](/source/Royal_Prussia) astronomer [Nicolaus Copernicus](/source/Nicolaus_Copernicus), from the [Middle Low German](/source/Middle_Low_German) ''Niclas'' or ''Niklas'' plus ''Koppernigk'' ({{literally|from [Koperniki](/source/Koperniki)}}: his father's hometown) == Place names == In English, place names often appear in Latinised form. This is a result of many early text books mentioning the places being written in Latin. Because of this, the English language often uses Latinised forms of foreign place names instead of anglicised forms or the original names. Examples of Latinised names for countries or regions are: *[Estonia](/source/Estonia) (Estonian name {{lang|et|Eesti}}, Dutch/German/Scandinavian name {{lang|gem|Estland}}, i.e. 'land of the [Aesti](/source/Aesti)') *[Ingria](/source/Ingria) (Finnish {{lang|fi|Inkerinmaa}}, German/Scandinavian {{lang|gem|Ingermanland}}, i.e. 'land of the [Ingermans](/source/Izhorians)', the local tribe) *[Livonia](/source/Livonia) (German/Scandinavian name {{lang|gem|Livland}}', i.e. 'land of the [Liv](/source/Livonian_people)s', the local tribe) {{lang|la|[Eboracum](/source/Eboracum)}} was the Latinised name for the modern English city [York](/source/York). It is a Latinised form of the [Brittonic](/source/Common_Brittonic) name {{lang|cel-GB|*Eburākon}} which means 'place of (the) yew trees'. The Common Brittonic language was spoken by the [indigenous people of Britain](/source/Celtic_Britons) [and evolved into](/source/Brythonic_Languages) modern [Welsh](/source/Welsh_language), [Cornish](/source/Cornish_language_revival), and [Breton (Brezhoneg)](/source/Breton_language). == Scientific names == {{further|Scientific Latin}} Latinisation is a common practice for [scientific name](/source/scientific_name)s. For example, {{lang|la|[Livistona](/source/Livistona)}}, the name of a genus of palm trees, is a Latinisation of ''[Livingstone](/source/Livingstone_(name))''. ==Historical background== During the age of the [Roman Empire](/source/Roman_Empire), translation of names into [Latin](/source/Latin) (in the West) or [Greek](/source/Greeks) (in the East) was common. Additionally, Latinised versions of Greek [substantive](/source/substantive)s, particularly [proper noun](/source/proper_noun)s, could easily be [declined](/source/declension) by Latin speakers with minimal modification of the original word.{{cite web |url=http://www.informalmusic.com/latinsoc/greekdec.html |website=Later Latin Society |publisher=Informalmusic |title=Declension of Greek Substantives in Latin |access-date=2015-07-14 }} During the [medieval period](/source/medieval_period), after the Empire collapsed in [Western Europe](/source/Western_Europe), the main bastion of scholarship was the [Roman Catholic Church](/source/Roman_Catholic_Church), for which Latin was the primary written language. In the early medieval period, most European scholars were priests and most educated people spoke Latin, and as a result, Latin became firmly established as the scholarly language for the West. By the early 19th century, Europe had largely abandoned Latin as a scholarly language (most scientific studies and scholarly publications are printed in English), but a variety of fields still use Latin terminology as the norm. By tradition, it is still common in some fields to name new discoveries in Latin. And because Western science became dominant during the 18th and 19th centuries, the use of Latin names in many scholarly fields has gained worldwide acceptance, at least when European languages are being used for communication. ==References== {{reflist}} ==Sources== * {{cite journal | last = Nicolson | first = Dan H. | year = 1974 | title = Orthography of Names and Epithets: Latinization of Personal Names | journal = Taxon | volume = 23 | issue = 4 | pages = 549–561 | doi = 10.2307/1218779 | publisher = International Association for Plant Taxonomy | jstor = 1218779 }} Category:Latin language Category:Neo-Latin Names Category:Cultural assimilation and names --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Latinisation of names](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinisation_of_names) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinisation_of_names?action=history)). 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