# Kind Latin geeks!  How do I decline a proper name?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kind-latin-geeks-how-do-i-decline-a-proper-name/311100>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 5, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kind-latin-geeks-how-do-i-decline-a-proper-name/311100 "2005-07-05T02:53:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Lathe\_of\_Heaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Lathe\_of\_Heaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lathe_of_Heaven)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kind-latin-geeks-how-do-i-decline-a-proper-name/311100/1 "2005-07-05T02:53:49Z")

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I have a bunch of bookplates. They say “Ex Libris \_\_\_\_\_”, and you’re supposed to write in your name. I’d like this to be somewhat correct, so how do I correctly decline my first name (“Nicole”)? Is “Ex Libris Nicolae” correct?

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**Author:** ![Sofis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Sofis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofis)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kind-latin-geeks-how-do-i-decline-a-proper-name/311100/2 "2005-07-05T03:36:56Z")

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There are five declensions in Latin. The fourth and fifth are not used for names, so let’s ignore those.

The first declension goes (in the singular)

```auto

Nominative Amanda
Genitive Amandae
Dative Amandae
Accusative Amandam
Ablative Amanda

```

So the -ae ending is from the first declension, and you could use that. One problem, though: first declension words always end with a in the base form, which your name does not. Of course, you could fudge it, and pretend:

```auto

Nominative Nicole
Genitive Nicolae
Dative Nicolae
Accusative Nicolam
Ablative Nicola

```

But let’s look at your other options.

The second declension is only for male names, so let’s look at the third, which is gender-neutral. It goes like this:

```auto

Nominative Iuno Iuppiter
Genitive Iunonis Iovis
Dative Iunoni Iovi
Accusative Iunonem Iovem
Ablative Iunone Iove

```

It may seem like the first form doesn’t have much to do with the others, and because it doesn’t: you can’t immediately tell what the stem of a3rd decension word is from the base form, you need the second form as well to know how to decline it.  
Which makes the 3rd decl. perfect for making Latin names out of non-Latin names. You just need to pick a stem. If you choose Nicol-, you get

```auto

Nominative Nicole
Genitive Nicolis
Dative Nicoli
Accusative Nicolem
Ablative Nicole

```

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**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kind-latin-geeks-how-do-i-decline-a-proper-name/311100/3 "2005-07-05T03:44:29Z")

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I’d Latinise your name Nicole to Nicola (since women’s names generally end with an a in Latin) and then use the genitive Nicolae. So _ex libris Nicolae_.

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**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kind-latin-geeks-how-do-i-decline-a-proper-name/311100/4 "2005-07-05T05:08:25Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> How do I decline a proper name?

Just Say No.