Fun Facts About the Name Demian
- More than 2 thousand babies named Demian: U.S. records list 2,119 babies given the name Demian from 1880 through 2025. Even 14 girls received the name Demian - about 1 girl for every 150 boys.
What Does the Name Demian Mean?
Demian is a spelling variant of Damian, a name that goes back to the Greek Damianos (Δαμιανός). The Greek name is generally derived from the verb damazō (δαμάζω), "to tame" or "to subdue," so its literal sense is "tamer" or "subduer." The same verb can describe breaking a wild animal and also overcoming a person or a force. Latin adopted the name as Damianus, and from that Latin form come the familiar European spellings: Damien in French, Damián in Spanish, Damiano in Italian, and Demian alongside Damian in German. A less common suggestion connects the name to Damia, a Greek goddess worshipped in the Peloponnese, but the derivation from damazō is the one usually given, and the goddess link remains uncertain rather than established.
Demian Name History & Origins
The name spread through Christian Europe by way of Saints Cosmas and Damian, a pair of brothers traditionally described as physicians who treated patients without payment and who were martyred in the late third or early fourth century, during the persecution under Diocletian, in Syria or Cilicia. Devotion to them traveled quickly from the eastern Mediterranean to Rome, where a church in the Forum, Santi Cosma e Damiano, was dedicated to the pair in the sixth century. As patrons of physicians and surgeons, the two saints were widely invoked, and the name Damian entered regular use in Italy, France, Spain, and the German-speaking lands during the Middle Ages. The spelling Demian belongs to that same family of forms rather than to a separate root.
In German, both Damian and Demian have been used for centuries, and Demian is the form that became familiar to a wide readership through Hermann Hesse's novel Demian, published in 1919 under the pseudonym Emil Sinclair. The book's central figure, Max Demian, gives the spelling a distinctive literary association in German and in translation. That association is a literary use of an existing name, not the name's origin. The related Slavic form is found in Russian as Демьян (Demyan), and the French missionary priest Jozef De Veuster, known as Father Damien, who served patients with leprosy on Molokai and died in 1889, bears the French version of the parent name.
How Popular is the Name Demian?
Demian recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2007. Its best rank was #920 in 1974.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | #6,828 | 7 | 0.0005% |
| 1969 | #6,103 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #2,489 | 54 | 0.0032% |
| 2024 | #2,340 | 60 | 0.0035% |
| 2023 | #2,322 | 60 | 0.0035% |
| 2022 | #2,195 | 66 | 0.0038% |
| 2021 | #2,987 | 41 | 0.0023% |
| 2020 | #2,699 | 46 | 0.0027% |
| 2019 | #2,703 | 47 | 0.0026% |
| 2018 | #2,811 | 43 | 0.0024% |
| 2017 | #2,646 | 47 | 0.0025% |
| 2016 | #2,636 | 47 | 0.0025% |
| 2015 | #2,931 | 40 | 0.0021% |
| 2014 | #2,024 | 70 | 0.0036% |
| 2013 | #2,008 | 68 | 0.0036% |
| 2012 | #1,865 | 78 | 0.0041% |
| 2011 | #2,133 | 62 | 0.0033% |
| 2010 | #2,154 | 62 | 0.0032% |
| 2009 | #2,261 | 58 | 0.0029% |
| 2008 | #2,069 | 67 | 0.0033% |
| 2007 | #1,684 | 90 | 0.0043% |
| 2006 | #2,323 | 54 | 0.0026% |
| 2005 | #2,500 | 45 | 0.0023% |
| 2004 | #2,386 | 47 | 0.0024% |
| 2003 | #2,867 | 34 | 0.0017% |
| 2002 | #2,896 | 32 | 0.0016% |
| 2001 | #3,080 | 29 | 0.0015% |
| 2000 | #4,844 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1999 | #4,584 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1998 | #5,221 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1997 | #5,027 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1996 | #4,954 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1995 | #7,183 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1994 | #7,152 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1993 | #5,874 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1992 | #6,846 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1991 | #8,513 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1990 | #8,425 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1989 | #7,194 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1988 | #7,558 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1985 | #5,281 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1983 | #5,050 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1982 | #3,153 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 1981 | #2,933 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1980 | #2,992 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1979 | #3,404 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1978 | #1,809 | 29 | 0.0018% |
| 1977 | #1,341 | 46 | 0.0028% |
| 1976 | #1,168 | 54 | 0.0034% |
| 1975 | #1,118 | 57 | 0.0037% |
| 1974 | #920 | 78 | 0.0050% |
| 1973 | #1,077 | 57 | 0.0037% |
| 1972 | #1,140 | 51 | 0.0031% |
| 1971 | #959 | 72 | 0.0041% |
| 1970 | #1,019 | 64 | 0.0034% |
| 1969 | #1,360 | 35 | 0.0020% |
| 1968 | #2,048 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 1967 | #3,330 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1966 | #4,075 | 5 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
Explore More Lists with Name Demian
Most Popular Boy Names That Start with D
How the Name Demian Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You are strong in material matters, determined and stubborn. You have good business ability. You are a good worker, steady and practical, a builder who takes responsibility well. These qualities may bring you a position of authority and power. You are a doer, down-to-earth, serious-minded, reliable, and self-disciplined; have good power of concentration. You have an eventful, exciting life. You are versatile and have the ability to learn easily.
You are always looking for a chance to do your own thing, to be your own person, and to have things done your own way.
✦ Demian's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Demian's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.