The famous French philosopher [Rene Descartes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Descartes) is Latinised as *Renatus Cartesius*. Those unfamiliar with this, or with his thought in general, might then not realise that some words are derived from his name. For instance, Cartesian is a common term used in philosophy and mathematics (e.g. Cartesian dualism and Cartesian system of coordinates, respectively).

Why is the Latinisation of Descartes *Cartesius*? In particular, where is "Des"? Is it omitted because Descartes is literally translated as "[of the](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/des#French) + [card/maps](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cartes#French)", and Latin generally omits prepositions? It seems however that *cartesius* is not a Latin word (although *charta* and *carta* are).

Is this Latinisation style common? Notice that, for example, the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh is translated as *Vincentius van Gogh*, even that *van* also means "[of/from](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/van#Dutch)". [Miguel de Cervantes](https://la.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_de_Cervantes_Saavedra) (contemporary with Descartes) is another example where the "of" is not omitted. Is there a rule here or is this just arbitrary?