Damiana
Feminine · “Greek "to tame”
Damian and his twin brother Cosmas were physicians who refused payment, and the Church gave them a title for it: the anargyroi, the silverless ones. Damiana is the feminine of that name, and it is also, separately, a Mexican shrub used in traditional medicine.
How old is the name Damiana?
Damiana first appears in US birth records in 1915 — 110 years ago. The typical Damiana alive today was born around 2002, making them about 23 years old. About 700 people named Damiana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Damiana most popular?
Damiana peaked in 1930, reaching #3055 nationally. Today it ranks #7491, 4,436 places below that high. See the whole 1930 chart.
Where it comes from
From damazein to Damiana
The story of Damiana
Cosmas and Damian were Arab physicians martyred in the early fourth century, and their cult spread across the Mediterranean and into medieval Europe, where they became patrons of doctors, surgeons and pharmacists. The Greek term applied to them, anargyroi, literally means without silver: a class of saints defined by taking no fee. Their names entered the Roman canon of the Mass and stayed in it, which kept them in general use across Catholic Europe. The feminine Damiana is standard in Italian and Spanish and reached American records with Italian and Mexican families, peaking in 1930.
Meaningscholars disagree
Greek "to tame, to subdue"
From Greek damazein, to tame or master, most likely through the personal name Damianos. A competing derivation links it to Damia, an epithet of a fertility goddess. Neither is fully settled. The plant Turnera diffusa, called damiana in Mexico and the American Southwest, is generally said to be named for Damian as patron of physicians, though the naming is not documented with certainty.
How the name formed
- damazein
- Damianos
- Damiana
Related forms: Damiana · Damiana · Damiana
Pronouncing Damiana
dah-mee-AH-nah
Four syllables, stress on the third, with pure Spanish or Italian vowels. English speakers often say duh-MEE-uh-nuh, pulling the stress forward and reducing the vowels.
Nicknames for Damiana
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1915
- Most girls named
- 200633 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3055reached in 1930
- Change vs 2024
- +180.0%14 in 2025, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Damiana in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Damiana in Italian — same name
- Damiana in Spanish — same name
- Damiana in Polish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas.
Damianas among us
people named Damiana are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 114,805 born in 2025 was named Damiana
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Damiana sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Damiana beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Damiana in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It has a documented saint and a place in the Roman canon of the Mass.
- Mia and Ana are ready short forms that stand alone.
- It is established in Italian, Spanish and Polish.
- It shares its spelling with a herb sold as a supplement.
- Four syllables is long for American everyday use.
- The etymology is genuinely contested.
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Damiana
Feminine · #7491 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Damianas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Damiana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Damiana in 2025?
- Damiana ranks #7491 among US girl names in 2025, with 14 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Damiana?
- About 1 in every 114,805 US girls born in 2025 was named Damiana — 14 in all.
- Will my child share the name Damiana with classmates?
- Damiana will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Damiana
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Christie#7491 · Carmelita#7491 · Jetta#7491 · Hildegard#7491 · Rickie#7491 · Billy#7491 · Angelyn#7491 · Jewell#7491
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Damiana? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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