Damon
A surname that is often a short form or variant of names like Diamond or Daymond, though in some cases it may be a direct baptismal surname.
The #4,695 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 40,866 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The historical dictionaries most often connect Damon with medieval baptismal forms related to Dymond/Diamond and Daymond, meaning essentially “the son of Dymond/Diamond” or a shortened surname form from that line. In that sense, it is usually treated as a name derived from a personal name rather than from the Greek name Damon directly. Some bearers may also reflect the classical personal name Damon, but the surname evidence in the excerpts points mainly to English baptismal origins.
History
Bardsley notes Damon as an established surname in parts of northern England, and the name also appears in English records from the medieval period onward. Later compilers list it among surnames found in Britain and America. Because it overlaps in form with the classical name Damon, the surname has sometimes been assumed to be classical, but the older surname scholarship treats that as only one possible source.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Nineteenth-century surname scholars sometimes grouped Damon with a whole cluster of similar-looking names, showing how easily medieval spelling could blur one family line into several forms.
From the historical record
“Dann, Danson.— Bapt. ' the son of Daniel,' from nick. Dan. For several centuries Damon has been a familiar South Cumbertaad and Fumeas surname. It is fuund in the neighbourhood of Hillom.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances