Papal name

A **papal name** is a special name (regnal name) which is chosen by the pope when he is elected.

## History

In the early church, popes were known by their ordinary names, such as Pope Adeodatus, Pope Formosus and Pope Hyginus.

The practice of choosing a papal name started in the sixth century.  At birth, Pope John II was named after the Roman god Mercury.  When he was elected pope, he chose to be called by a Christian name.

Papal names became customary in the 10th century. In 996, the first German pope was chosen; and he changed his name from Bruno to Gregory. He is known as Pope Gregory V.

Every pope since the 16th century is known by a different name than the one he was given at birth.

## Frequency of names

The papal names have included John (23 times), Gregory (16), Clement (14), Innocent (14), Leo (14) and Pius (12).

The first papal name to be repeated was Pope Sixtus. There have been four others.

As with kings and emperors, a Roman numeral is added if the Pope chooses a name that another pope has used before -- for example, Pope John Paul II decided to be known by the same name as the pope who came before him.

|width="3%"||width="7%"|Name|width="3%"|#|width="45%"|Popes|width="43%"|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1.|John|21|I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV <span style="color:#ddddff">XVI</span> XVII XVIII XIX <span style="color:#ddddff">XX</span> XXI XXII XXIII|* John XVI = antipope * There was no John XX||||||
|2.|Gregory|16|I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI|||||||
|3.|Benedict|15|I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX <span style="color:#ddddff">X</span> XI XII XIII XIV XV **XVI**|* Benedict X = antipope||||||
|4.|Clement|14|I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV|||||||
|5.|Leo|14|I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV|||||||
|6.|Innocent|13|I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII|||||||
|7.|Pius|12|I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII|||||||
|8.|Stephen|9|I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX|Pope Stephen II died in 752 after election but before being consecrated.  The next pope took the same name in 752; and he is known as either Stephen II or III.||||||
|9.|Boniface|8|I II III IV V VI <span style="color:#ddddff">VII</span> VIII IX|* Boniface VII = antipope.||||||
|10.|Urban|8|I II III IV V VI VII VIII|||||||
|11.|Alexander|7|I II III IV <span style="color:#ddddff">V</span> VI VII VIII|* Alexander V = antipope||||||
|12.|Adrian|6|I II III IV V VI|||||||
|13.|Paul|6|I II III IV V VI|||||||
|14.|Celestine|5|I II III IV V|||||||
|15.|Nicholas|5|I II III IV V|||||||
|16.|Sixtus|5|I II III IV V|||||||
|17.|Anastasius|4|I II III IV|||||||
|18.|Eugene|4|I II III IV|||||||
|19.|Honorius|4|I II III IV|||||||
|20.|Sergius|4|I II III IV|||||||
|21.|Callixtus|3|I II III|||||||
|22.|Felix|3|I <span style="color:#ddddff">II</span> III IV<span style="color:#ddddff"> V</span>|* Felix II  and Felix V = antipope||||||
|23.|Julius|3|I II III|||||||
|24.|Lucius|3|I II III|||||||
|25.|Martin|3|I <span style="color:#ddddff">II</span> <span style="color:#ddddff">III</span> IV V|*There was no Martin II or Martin III||||||
|26.|Sylvester|3|I II III|||||||
|27.|Victor|3|I II III|||||||
|28.|Adeodatus|2|I II|||||||
|29.|Agapetus|2|I II|||||||
|30.|Damasus|2|I II|||||||
|31.|Gelasius|2|I II|||||||
|32.|John Paul|2|I II|||||||
|33.|Marcellus|2|I II|||||||
|34.|Marinus|2|I II|* Marinus I is not  "Martin[us] II" * Marinus II is not "Martin III"||||||
|35.|Paschal|2|I II|||||||
|36.|Pelagius|2|I II|||||||
|37.|Theodore|2|I II|||||||
|38.|Agatho|1||||||||
|39.|Anacletus|1||||||||
|40.|Anicetus|1||||||||
|41.|Anterus|1||||||||
|42.|Caius|1||||||||
|43.|Conon|1||||||||
|44.|Constantine|1||||||||
|45.|Cornelius|1||||||||
|46.|Dionysius|1||||||||
|47.|Donus|1||||||||
|48.|Eleuterus|1||||||||
|49.|Eusebius|1||||||||
|50.|Eutychian|1||||||||
|51.|Evaristus|1||||||||
|52.|Fabian|1||||||||
|53.|Formosus|1||||||||
|54.|Francis|1||||||||
|55.|Hilarius|1||||||||
|56.|Hormisdas|1||||||||
|57.|Hyginus|1||||||||
|58.|Lando|1||||||||
|59.|Liberius|1||||||||
|60.|Linus|1||||||||
|61.|Marcellinus|1||||||||
|62.|Mark|1||||||||
|63.|Miltiades|1||||||||
|64.|Peter|1||||||||
|65.|Pontian|1||||||||
|66.|Romanus|1||||||||
|67.|Sabinian|1||||||||
|68.|Severinus|1||||||||
|69.|Silverius|1||||||||
|70.|Simplicius|1||||||||
|71.|Siricius|1||||||||
|72.|Sisinnius|1||||||||
|73.|Soter|1||||||||
|74.|Symmachus|1||||||||
|75.|Telesphorus|1||||||||
|76.|Valentine|1||||||||
|77.|Vigilius|1||||||||
|78.|Vitalian|1||||||||
|79.|Zachary|1||||||||
|80.|Zephyrinus|1||||||||
|81.|Zosimus|1||||||||

## Related pages

- Habemus Papam

## Other websites

- Pope tells why he chose the name of "Benedict XVI"