Gothmog as Pat

[Gordis]

I think Gothmog was a nazgul.

Let us look at the name itself.

IMHO "Gothmog" is hardly a name a loving mom and dad would give their newborn child.

Suppose Gothmog II was a mortal Man. Even if the parents were late Third Age Black Numenoreans - Morgoth worshippers, the name is too lofty for even a very noble Black Numenorean child. Gothmog the First had been almost equal (and maybe equal?) to Sauron. Who knows if the two Maiar, Morgoth's lieutenants, were on good terms back in the First age? The parents wouldn't risk the Dark Lord's displeasure naming their child after such a high being.

Suppose Gothmog II was a nazgul. The parents would be mid-Second Age Men, at the time when very few, or none of the Numenoreans worshipped Morgoth. The ME "barbarian" natives often did, it seems, but I am not sure that the "barbarians" would have enough knowledge of old lore to know about Gothmog I.

So, most likely, it was NOT a name received at birth. IMHO Gothmog II earned his name as a reward by his long service to the Dark Lord. And that more likely makes him a nazgul, than one of the mortal servants. Too grand a name, probably given by Sauron himself.

As for the nazgul names, we know but one - Khamul, the Shadow of the East.
But I have a suspicion, that Khamul actually translates as "Eastern Shadow" "Kha-" like in "Khand" meaning "East" . If I am right, than it must be the name that Khamul got while he was already a nazgul, not his birth-name.

Very probably all of the nazgul in the course of their very long lives got many names, much like Olorin-Mithrandir-Gandalf-Incanus, or Aragorn-Strider-Thorongil-Elessar.

So, I think, the name itself gives us few clues, only shows the wielder's high status, which we know already.

Gothmog was no orc surely, he held too high a position, second in command in the Mordorian army. Orcs sometimes commanded orcs (like Shagrat of Cirith Ungol) but hardly any orc ever commanded Men. And from the quote above, we see that Gothmog has become the head of the Mordor army with authority over Easterlings, Variags and Southrons - some of them allies, with their own kings present.
Alternatively, he could have been a mortal Man, but I doubt that in the city of the Ringwraiths a motral Man could hold a higher position than 6 of the resident nazgul. Also I doubt that Easterling and Southron allies would have been happy to bow to a mortal underling.

An additional argument might be this:

In an immediately rejected version of the passage in which the new hosts streaming out of Osgiliath are described, it was said of the Black Captain: 'He was gone, and the Nazgul in fear had fled to Mordor bearing ill tidings'; but this was lost in the rewriting of the passage where appears Gothmog lieutenant of Morgul - HOME 8

If Gothmog were meant to be a nazgul, then the rejection of the sentence about all the remaining Nazgul fleeing seems explained. Also if Tolkien put Gothmog in while editing the sentence about the nazgul, it explains why he failed to mention that Gothmog was one of them: at the moment it seemed obvious to Tolkien.