Damien
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Meaning
variant of Damian, traditionally "to tame"
The story
Damien has spent modern life between two unforgettable boys. One was fictional: the sinister child in the 1976 film The Omen, whose name became horror shorthand almost overnight. The other was a priest who chose the company of people the world had abandoned. Father Damien lived and worked in the Hansen's disease settlement on Molokai, eventually dying of the disease himself; the Catholic Church canonized him in 2009. Between those images, menace and mercy, the name becomes more interesting than either one alone. Damien is a French form related to Damian, traditionally connected with taming or mastering. The horror association did not banish it from nurseries, and the saint's story never made it solemn property. Both simply became part of what the name can carry. That tension is its real plot: a gentle French sound with a dark cinematic echo, answered by a life of difficult service. Damien proves that culture can load a name with fear, and a human life can load it with courage.
Damien across languages
One shared root links 4 names across 3 languages.
Shared root: traditionally derived from Greek daman "to tame": Damianos the physician-saint and the ancient Damon are sibling formations on the same (uncertain) root
The constellation
More branches
How popular is Damien around the world?
In the United States, 6,506 babies were named Damien between 2020 and 2025. In Canada, 120 boys named Damien were born in 2024, the 269th most common name among boys that year.
Damien is on the official records of the United States, Canada, Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, France, South Australia, Austria, Spain and Brazil.
United States
1 in 3,300
In the United States, 6,506 babies were named Damien between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Damien peaked in the 2010s. Damien went to 1,426 US babies in 2015 and 935 in 2025, 66% of the earlier figure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 3,000
In Canada, 120 boys named Damien were born in 2024, the 269th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Ireland
1 in 7,700
In Ireland, 7 boys named Damien were born in 2025, the 468th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Scotland
1 in 11,000
In Scotland, 4 boys named Damien were registered in 2024, the 619th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
England and Wales
1 in 13,000
In England and Wales, 46 boys named Damien were born in 2025, the 745th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
France
1 in 14,000
In France, about 45 boys named Damien were born in 2025, the 881st most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
South Australia
1 in 18,0002017
In South Australia, 1 boy was registered as Damien in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Austria
1 in 38,000
In Austria, 2 boys named Damien were born in 2025, ranked 1,241st among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Spain
1 in 260,000
In Spain, 175 residents are named Damien, ranked 5,162nd among men, with a mean age of 34.6 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Argentina
last on record 2019
Damien is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 63 people in Brazil were named Damien, ranked 56,841st, with a median age of 35.
Among people named Damien living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Mexico City City
last on record 2021
Damien is not on the 2022 record for Mexico City, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Montevideo City
last on record 1999
Damien is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
New South Wales
outside the top 100
Damien is not in the 2025 top 100 for New South Wales.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
New Zealand
last on record 2018
Damien is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Poland
last on record 2011
Damien is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Not on the record in Puerto Rico: that registry withholds small counts, so rare uses may sit below its floor.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Damien
Most people given the name Damien in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like Damien · Names that go with Damien · Saint names for babies and confirmation · Climbers and fallers
The Damien deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Damien truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Damien fits with your family’s names and surname.
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