Damian

Gender: Masculine
Origin: Greek
Meaning: “to tame.”

The name is derived from the Greek Damianos ,which, in turn, is derived from the Greek word, damao, meaning, “to tame.”

The name is borne by the twin brother of St. Cosmo. They were martyred together in 4th century Greek Syria.

The designated feast day is July 1st in the Greek Orthodox calender.

In recent years, Damian has risen increasingly in popularity coming in at # 133 most popular male name in the United States. Its French counterpart of Damien comes in at # 189. The name is also quite popular in Poland. The feminine offshoot is Damiana and there is also the rare French female name of Damienne.

Other forms include:

• Damyan Дамян (Bulgarian)
• Damjan Дамјан (Croatian/Serbian/Slovene)
• Damiaan (Dutch)
• Damian (English/German/Polish)
• Damien (French)
• Damio (Italian)
• Damiano (Italian)
• Damianos Δαμιανος (Greek)
• Damianus (Latin)
• Damião (Portuguese)
• Demyan Демьян (Russian/Ukrainian)
• Damijan (Slovene)
• Damián (Spanish)

Feminine forms include:

• Damienne (French)
• Damia (Greek)
• Damiana (Italian/Spanish)
• Damijana (Slovene)