People find my first name a bit strange. It's not the most common name, I admit, but hardly unheard of. Apparently the 1990 U.S. Census established it was the 548th most common name in that country (which, though I'm hesitant to admit it, has much in common with the country in which I live, Canada).

To deal with the obvious questions: 1. My parents didn't name me after the evil child in the Omen films - the first movie in the series was released a couple of years after I was born (no connection there either); 2. I don't think I have a "666" tatooed on my head, in any event, though I've never shaved my head to check.

According to my name's profile on babynamer.com, the source of the name Damian is the Greek name Damianos, meaning "Tamer." There are several names based on that greek root, including Damian (Irish) and Damien (German). The name Damon is also a variant.

My parents add their recollections

Just after I first wrote about my name on my web page in 1996, my parents responded. Here's what my Dad had to say:

When I read on your wonderful new web page your musings about your name, I was whisked back to a special time in my life: your birth and naming. That naming was hard work. Your mom and I must have considered a thousand names. We even bought a book with suggestions of names for babies. I remember reading about the name Damon and variations on that spelling. The meaning of the name was constancy. Having come of age in the turbulent late 60's and early 70's, constancy seemed a quality of extraordinary value.

My mother, whose memory is generally more reliable than my father's, has a slightly different story to tell. She says that she looked up the name because an Olympic skier named Stephen Damien had been making the headlines around the time of my birth. She thought there might have been a Roman legend about a Damien. It was actually the story of Damon and Pythias, and that is where the concept of constancy comes from (not from my name, exactly). My parents liked the sound of the name, and it fit with a principle in naming that suggests you should choose a name with an odd number of sylables if your last name has an even number of syllables. If you don't the name lacks cadence, or so the theory goes.

The religious connection

Given that the name Damian is best known from the Omen movies, I've been happy to learn of St. Damian. Catholic-forum.com has a little site about St. Damian here; apparently he was a doctor who accepted no payment for his services. It's noble certainly, but aren't saints supposed to perform miracles? Here's some more information about St. Damian.

January 2, 2008