On many occasions we may have seen the Latin expression Nomen nominandum (yet to be named) in documents, works and event programs. It is used to refer to a person who is not yet known, and whose identity will be revealed later, or whose name is withheld for some reason.
The expression derives from a misunderstanding of the old abbreviation N.N. that was used in Roman jurisprudence, where it represented a fictitious name that identified the defendant:Numerius Negidius .
Because one of the basic principles of ancient Roman jurisprudence was to impart justice without taking into account the person. Therefore, the court had to deal with the legal situation between the parties in the abstract and not be influenced, in principle, by attitudes towards specific persons.
For this reason, the parties to the dispute were identified by fictitious names in common use, instead of their proper names. These fictitious names were commonly used in consultations with higher authorities or jurists, and in the corresponding information and decrees.
Numerius Negidius it is the name that was always used for the accused. It is a play on words based on the legal position of the defendant, which derives from numerare (count, pay) and the verb nego (to deny), being able to be translated as I refuse to pay or the one who refuses to pay .
The name Numerius already existed in ancient Rome, although it was never very common. It was mostly used during the period of the Roman Republic, and its feminine form was Numeria (the goddess of childbirth). The only patrician family to use the name regularly was the Fabian gens, who began using it after their only surviving male from the Battle of Cremera married the daughter of Numerius Otacilius.
If Numerius Negidius was the name assigned to the defendant, the plaintiff was Aulus Agerius (literally Aulus requests or chases). The judge, or a third party affected by the litigation, received the name of Titius or Lucius Titius . However, in all court records these fictitious names used to appear in abbreviated form, with their initials. Hence the later confusion with the abbreviation N.N .
In Spanish, the abbreviation is usually translated as No Name , and in English as No Name , both misinterpretations of the Roman original, which was certainly a false name. Interestingly, in Spanish there are other variants, such as those from Arabic:Fulano comes from Arabic fulān ( فلان), which has the same meaning as in Spanish, and Mengano by man kān (من كان ) which literally means whoever .
Those who have studied law and law will know that most Roman Law manuals use the names Numerius Negidius and Aulus Agerius in their formulas and examples. In many parts of the world the acronym N.N. is also used. to identify unnamed graves.