Upvote:1
Hence the development of cognomen and the tradition of tria nomina, such as for Gaius Julius Caesar. Tradition has it that Caesar was born with a good head of hair, and thus acquired the cognomen Caesar from the Latin "a caesariΔ", translated "because of the hair" or, more colloquially, "Hairy".
Upvote:3
The Romans apparently had nicknames (of a sort) known as agnomen: Thus for instance Publius Cornelius Scipio had the agnomen Africanus from his military victories.