Hi from the new guy!

[Marius_Ursus]

Salvete, Andy. I have a couple of tips for you for picking a name. There are a large handful of web sites with Latin names. If you Google "latin praenomen first names" you'll turn up some good resources.

For a house name, I visited Nova Roma at http://www.novaroma.org and searched through their gens section until I found a house name that was from the area I had selected for my Roman persona and e-mailed the pater familias of that house to solicit for inclusion in their family. You really don't need to go to that length unless you want to get involved in "New Rome" on an active level. If you just want a name and to join a re-enacment group, just pick a name from the gens at Nova Roma and adopt it.

For your cognomen, take a nickname, something your friends call you, or some characteristic you have and tack that on. That's how I established myself as Marius Tarquinius Ursus. Don't forget that Romans were every bit as sarcastic and "mean" as modern day soldiers and senators. There were Romans called "Lucius the Fat" and "Falcus the Bald". ;-) )