In Italy, one portion in person's name may be determined by the name day ( onomastico). Moreover, the low number, and the steady decline of importance and variety, of Roman praenomina starkly contrast with the current number of Italian given names. Female naming traditions, and name-changing rules after adoption, for both sexes likewise differ between Roman antiquity and modern Italian use.

The Italian nome is not analogous to the ancient Roman nomen the Italian nome is the given name (distinct between siblings), while the Roman nomen is the gentile name (inherited, thus shared by all in a gens). Italian names, with their fixed nome + cognome structure, have little to do with the ancient Roman naming conventions, which used a tripartite system of given name + gentile name + hereditary or personal name (or names). (In official documents, the Western surname may be written before the given name or names.)

A name in the Italian language consists of a given name ( Italian: nome), and a surname ( cognome) in most contexts, the given name is written before the surname.

Floris expanded vs evolved