30 Conception, Birth and Infancy in 



The paucity of the Italian first names that are in common use 

 recalls the limited number of patrician praenomina which were 

 available to the pagan Romans. It also accounts for the im- 

 portance of the nicknames to the use of which the Italians are so 

 much addicted. It may, indeed, be the individual's nomignolo, 

 contranome or sopranome, as it is used in place of Christian name 

 and surname together, that best identifies him. The designation 

 may have been attached to him during his childhood in good- 

 natured fun, or as a term of ridicule, or for some hostile reason. 142 

 Even villages may be known to many only by their nicknames. 143 

 The criminals of any of the large Italian colonies in the cities of 

 the United States exemplify what extra work this habitual use 

 of nicknames may cause police and detectives. We must re- 

 member, too, that, according to primitive ways of thought which 

 persist, a person's name is so closely and intimately related to him, 

 or, if we may so express it, is such an integral part of him that it 

 may be used in the operations of magic to do him harm. 144 So, 

 for example, when a Roman was laying somebody under a spell, 

 he would drive a nail through his enemy's name, written on a 

 tablet, or, perhaps, inscribed on a likeness made of him in wax, 

 and then hide this where his victim could not find it. If the 

 person cursed came into possession of it, he might loose the spell 

 by some counter charm. Today even the foreigner is likely to 

 bear a nickname in the community where he settles. Some oddity 

 about him stands out enough for a local wit to note it and dub 

 him with a descriptive expression which people use behind his 

 back. Overhearing it may profit him as a corrective of any 

 pomposity or conceit, but, as a rule, Italians are too considerate 

 of hurting an American's feelings to make this a common ex- 

 perience for one of us. 



The nature of the third name of the ancient Roman, his 

 cognomen, which designated his family, as the second name in- 

 dicated his clan, suggests that it originated as a personal name and 

 only later was given to all members of the family; for we have- 

 such names as Rufus, meaning the "red-headed man", Naso, im- 

 plying that the person so named has a prominent nose, Barbatus y 

 the "bearded fellow", all sounding like the nicknames that Ital- 

 ians would use today. Well-known is the name of the Roman 

 emperor Caligula, which stuck to him from the time that his 



