Damon
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Meaning
to tame, loyal friend
The story
Damon is Greek, from a root meaning to tame or subdue, and it belongs to one of antiquity's great friendship stories: Damon stood hostage for Pythias under a tyrant's death sentence, and the loyalty of the pair astonished the king into mercy. The American record gave it a generational crest of about 20,300 in the 1970s, a settle, then a second wind: about 9,700 in the 1990s and 8,700 in the 2000s, then 7,100 in the 2010s, the decade a television vampire lent the name a darker glamour, and 4,200 so far this decade, every one of them a boy. Damian, the Latin sibling, runs bigger at about 110,300 and carries its own story here. All-time: about 68,800 boys to 320 girls. A friend to the death in the legend, a heartthrob in the reruns: the record holds both.
Damon 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 Damon around the world?
In the United States, 4,201 babies were named Damon between 2020 and 2025.
Damon is on the official records of the United States, Canada, South Australia, Scotland, England and Wales, Austria, France, Spain and Brazil.
United States
1 in 5,200
In the United States, 4,201 babies were named Damon between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Damon peaked in the 2000s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 6,600
In Canada, 55 boys named Damon were born in 2024, the 521st 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)
South Australia
1 in 9,2002017
In South Australia, 2 boys were registered as Damon 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
Scotland
1 in 11,000
In Scotland, 4 boys named Damon 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 18,000
In England and Wales, 32 boys named Damon were born in 2025, the 953rd 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
Austria
1 in 25,000
In Austria, 3 boys named Damon were born in 2025, the 981st most common name among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
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)
France
1 in 43,000
In France, about 15 boys named Damon were born in 2025, ranked 1,890th 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)
Spain
1 in 830,000
In Spain, 54 residents are named Damon, ranked 13,597th among men, with a mean age of 19.6 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
Brazil
1 in 1M
At the 2022 census, 243 people in Brazil were named Damon, ranked 22,137th, with a median age of 26.
Among people named Damon living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 43 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. 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
Argentina
last on record 2023
Damon is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 4 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
Ireland
last on record 2024
Damon is not on the 2025 record for Ireland, where names under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
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
Mexico City City
last on record 2021
Damon is not on the 2022 record for Mexico City, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 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
Damon 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 1 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 Zealand
last on record 2014
Damon 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
Not on the record in Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
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 Damon
Most people given the name Damon in the United States were born between 1970 and 2009. The Damon you meet today is most often in his 30s or 40s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Damon deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Damon 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 Damon fits with your family’s names and surname.
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