 Another confusing practice was the addition of the full nomenclature of maternal ancestors to the basic "tria nomina", so that a man might appear to have two praenomina, one occurring in the middle of his name.Under the weight of these practices and others, the utility of the praenomen to distinguish between men continued to decline, until only the force of tradition prevented its utter abandonment.Over the course of the third century, praenomina become increasingly scarce in written records, and from the fourth century onward their appearance becomes exceptional.