From Latin 'in-' (not) + 'nōmen' (name) — to suffer ignominy is literally to lose one's name and reputation.
Deserving or causing public disgrace or shame.
From Latin 'ignōminiōsus' (full of disgrace, shameful), from 'ignōminia' (loss of good name, public disgrace), a compound of 'in-' (not, without) + 'nōmen' (name, reputation, renown). The PIE root behind 'nōmen' is *h₁nómn̥ (name), one of the most widely attested roots in Indo-European — virtually every branch has a reflex, from Sanskrit 'nāma' to Greek 'onoma' to Germanic *namô. In Roman civic culture, a man's 'nōmen' was more than a personal identifier: it was his standing in the community, his lineage, his claim on social trust. The magistrates could formally record a 'nota ignominiae' (mark of disgrace) against a citizen, legally stripping him of his name's protective power. To suffer 'ignōminia' was therefore not merely embarrassment but a legal and social