I’ve never seen The Omen, but I still associate the name Damian with evil… possibly because I went to school with an evil little devil named Damian. He’s the type of kid who caused teachers to abandon all plans to use that name for their offspring, and I’d be very surprised if any of his classmates had little Damians of their own.
Useless celebrity fact! Liz Hurley named her son Damian. I saw a lot of negative reactions to that online, mostly from people old enough to remember The Omen.
Have you thought about “Victor”? A nice. positive name. 
Absolutely. I know plenty of Ariannas too. Where do you think all the McKayla’s and Savannahs came from, anyway? Parents who wanted to give their kid a ‘unique’ name. The fact that you’re not used to it just means it wasn’t common in your generation - Zoe has gotten to be one of those quintessential yuppie names the past couple years. (Which is a total tragedy, since it’s an otherwise lovely name, and I would consider it for a daughter if I had one.) (Savannah, in contrast, being a name that virtually assures the kid a future in stripping.)
I reiterate the point that while the movie may be old, people my age (i.e. future kid’s teachers) still universally know the reference, and I would be rather surprised if kids in the next generation don’t pick up on it somewhere. The movie came out before I was born yet I’ve heard that joke more times than I care to think about; I don’t see why y’all expect it to disappear now.
My friends and I were talking about this last night.
We concluded that it really doesn’t matter what you name your kid, if other kids want to tease him/her they will find a way. My firend’s example was this kid in his class whose last name was Eisenhower. The kids teased him by calling him “Eyes”. And this devistated Eisenhower.
Go figure.
Looking at the SSR website, I see that none of the names made it into the top fifty, and all are in the top hundred. That’s the kind of frequency I’d be happy with–not so unusual that people are going to have problems spelling or pronouncing it, but not likely that she’ll be one of six in her class.
Anyway, enough with the hijack–sorry, OP.
LifeOnWry is 100% correct - no matter what you pick, someone will have something to say.
I remember when my son came home in tears from third grade one day - the kids had been teasing him. See, his name is Terry, and he’s a “junior”. We call him TJ. The kids had been calling him “TJ Maxx”. :rolleyes:
So pick what YOU want - the world is full of jackasses who have to comment on something - ignore 'em.
Yeah, my name was pretty innocuous when the 'rents gave it to me in '68; I think the Beach Boys song of the same name came out in '64, but I doubt that was their inspiration, much as I liked to think so. Really didn’t think much about it.
Then I turned 13, and a certain fast-food restaurant came out with some particularly memorable ads.
You wanna know where’s the beef? I gotcher !@#$%&* beef right here!
Yeah, but it’s not just about being teased as a child. It’s also a lifetime of stupid, stupid jokes. And conversations about the name. That get old. Is it a terrible cross to bear? No. But why saddle him with it, and why make it that much easier for the other kids?
I’m serious about this. I’m only 20 - I was born quite a bit after the movie came out. I have heard jokes about it all my life, though. It hasn’t been forgotten yet, and EVERY adult the kid meets will think of the movie when they hear his name.
Besides, no matter how charming and wonderful the guy is, do you want everyone he’s introduced to for the rest of his life instantly thinking of Satan? Why invite that? Sure, when he grows up he won’t get teased about his name, but I can’t imagine that association being an asset to him.
By that logic, the Dakotas and McKaylas are the only names that are left.
Almost any vaguely common name has something that lends itself to lame jokes.
My name is James King. So, my name lends itself to any number of bad jokes - King James, James Bond, Joe King, ‘Home, James’.
I know an assload of Michelles - care to ask any of them how often people add ‘ma belle’ when using their names?
And, no, the Omen jokes aren’t any different - nobody thinks anyone they meet named Damien is really the anti-Christ, it’s just an overdone joke, like addressing me like a chauffeur.
My dad’s something of a movie buff, and I’ve never heard of “The Omen”. (I mention this mainly because I’m a teenager) However, if it was on South Park, stay away from it. SP’ll probably last for a few more years, and that’ll get your kid a lot of teasing.
I’m currently dating a girl who’s brother is named Damien. He’s a handsome and reasonably successful young guy. So, the name does not necessarily preclude the kid from being normal…but I swear to god every time I hear his name mentioned I think of that awful movie.
The name, in and of itself, ain’t bad. I’m fond of Dylan myself.
By the way, I would advise against names that have obvious rhymes. Kids being kids, they will always find a way, but my name is Dan. I have heard almost every possible rhyme of my name. Some people find it amusing to include as many as possible into one breath. I want to slap them, generally. But my best friends call me Dan the Man…but beware names that rhyme easily.
I’m 21 and have never seen “The Omen”…but simply through pop culture references I associate “Damien” with “demon” anyway.
I don’t think the connection between the two is going to die out anytime soon.
Congrats on the baby and good luck on making a decision that you all are happy with.
Remember that the SSA website, while quite accurate, only tells part of the story.
First of all, each spelling of a name gets its own entry. So a name may be much more popular than it appears because it has several variations. You’d have to add up the Lilys, the Lillys, the Lillians, etc. to get an idea of how many “Lilys” are going to be at the playground.
Second, the statistics don’t take into account geography, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, or anything like that. So it doesn’t really tell you that much about how popular a given name may be in your particular area or community. In my affluent, highly educated, and embarrassingly lily-white (ha) community, Zoe is ridiculously common.
Sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to see that one more time.
It happens so very rarely.
I’d stay away from it, myself. I immediately thought of “Satanic” when I saw the name, and it’s been forever since I’ve seen the movie(s).
And in reply to those who think that “The Omen” is too old of a movie to matter anymore, I don’t think that makes any difference. “Psycho” is an old movie too (something like 15-16 years older than “The Omen”), but I wouldn’t want to name my kid “Norman” if my last name was “Bates.” If my last name was “O’Hara” I would think twice before naming a daughter “Scarlett” as well. See where I’m going here?
No, “The Omen” isn’t on the same cinematic level as “Psycho” or “Gone With the Wind,” but it’s one of those well-crafted movies that keeps popping up on TV and I don’t think it’s going away. I regularly watch films from the 1930s on up on TCM, and I have since I was a kid. And old films influence new films (as in the “South Park” reference to “Damien” being devilish), so I think the risk exists for Damien to be associated with evil devil child for years to come.
Thanks for all the input, folks… I just found out today that the Wife Unit hasn’t ever actually seen The Omen-- So I think we’ll get back to the name thing after that 
[hijack]
Sorry…I noticed your location. This Irish Damien wouldn’t by chance be a musician who played in a band called “Napper Tandy” (I think) and teaches music in a high school on the Southwest side, would he? Last name starts with an “A”? :dubious:
[/hijack]
No, but I know of whom you speak. Napper Tandy is indeed the name of the band, and the name was taken from an old Irish protest song called “Wearin’ of the Green.” Don’t know anyone in the band personally, but I know a friend of a friend. The guy you’re thinking of is Damien Aherne.
That’s it! So there’s more than one Irish Damien roaming the South Side, eh?
My high school friend Mike plays guitar with that band…or at least used to. I know Damien through him… Anyhow, back to our regularly scheduled thread…