|
Origin: |
Dimitri is the French and Russian of the Ancient Greek name Demetrios meaning "devoted to Demeter", later Latinised as Demetrius. Demeter was the Greek goddess agriculture, grain and all growing things, and one of the principle Olympian deities. The most famous myth regarding Demeter concerns the abduction of her daughter, Persephone, by Hades. Demeter searched the whole world for her missing daughter and despaired when she couldn't find her. Helios, the sun god, told Demeter of her daughter's abduction and that Zeus, in conspiracy with Hades, had allowed it to happen. Demeter was furious with this deceit and, in retribution, refused to let the earth fruit until her daughter returned. In Demeter's grief, the world endured perpetual famine. Eventually, Zeus had no choice but to capitulate and brokered a deal between Demeter and Hades: Persephone would spend half the year with her mother and the other half with Hades. For the half of the year that her daughter was in the Underworld, Demeter grieved and the crops did not grow (Autumn/Winter). When her daughter returned, the world became fruitful again (Spring/Summer). Alongside her daughter, Demeter was worshipped in the ancient Eleusinian Mysteries, one of the most important, sacred religious rites of ancient Greece—reenacted for thousands of years — which promised initiates happiness in the afterlife. The second element in the name Demeter is almost certainly the Greek μητηρ (mêtêr) "mother". The first element—the Doric dialect word da—is a little murkier. The traditional theory is that da is the Doric form of γη (gê) meaning "earth." Thus Demeter literally meant "earth-mother." Another theory suggests that the first element derives from the Cretan word dêai meaning "barley" which still reflects Demeter's function as a fertility goddess. Alternatively, it has been suggested that Da is the vocative form of Dan, a Doric form of Zen/Zeus. While it is unlikely that Demeter's name meant "mother of Zeus" (according to mythology, she was his sister), this second element could derive from the same source as Zeus name: the Proto-Indo-European deyw-o- "a God". Demeter, therefore, could mean "mother goddess" and she may have originally been a female counterpart to Zeus in pre-history. Intriguingly, another name for Demeter was Deo. |
|
Usage: |
Demetrios was in good use in Ancient Greece. Data from the Lexicon of Greek Personal Names ranks Demetrios at #2 in Attica; #2 in Macedonia Thrace, Northern Shores of the Black Sea; #3 in Coastal Asia Minor; #4 in the Aegean Islands, Cyprus, Cyrenaica; #8 in Inland Asia Minor; #8 in The Peloponnese, Western Greece, Sicily, Magna Graecia; #9 in Central Greece. These names were taken from "all available sources (literature, inscriptions, graffiti, papyri, coins, vases and other artefacts), within the period from the earliest Greek written records down to, approximately, the sixth century A.D." Demetrios was also a royal name, born by Macedonian, Bactrian and Seleucid kings which may be one of the reasons it was so well documented in Antiquity. One reason that Demetrius continued in use in the Christian Western Empire and into the Middle Ages was the many early saints to bear the name, most of whom were either early bishops or martyrs. The most famous saint to bear the name was St Demetrius of Thessaloniki, a 4th-century Greek-born deacon martyred at Sirmium, in the former Yugoslavia. During the Middle Ages, Saint Demetrius became regarded as one of the principal military saints. He was often paired with Saint George and the two were both regarded as the patron of the Crusades. In Greece, Saint Demetrius also became the patron of agriculture and shepherds which were transferred to his cult from Demeter with the decline of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Saint Demetrius was especially venerated in the Eastern Orthodox and is even patron of Thessaloniki in Greece, Siberia, Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia and Kosovska Mitrovica, Kosovo. This explains why variants of the name (such as Demetrios and Dimitri) became so common in Greece, Russia and Hungary. An 11th-century king of Croatia and Dalmatia, a 12th-century king of Georgia, a 14th-century grand prince of Moscow, and a 15th-century tsar of Russia bearing the name also promoted the use of the name in Eastern Europe. In Britain, however, variants of Demetrius were always rare. Much of its use in the 19th century was thanks to Eastern European immigration, and by the 1950s and 1960s, Greek immigration was the main source. Records for Demetrius and Dimitri as a first name in the England and Wales Birth Index:
Dimitri has been used in small but consistent numbers in England and Wales since 1996, only once breaking just into the top 1000. Variants Dimitrios and Demetrius are in rarer use.
In France, Dimitri ranked in the top 100 from 1980 to 2000, peaking at #47 in 1989. Other variants also currently rank internationally. In 2017, Dimitar ranked #4 in Bulgaria. Demetre ranked at #7 in Georgia in 2016 and Dmitry ranked #7 in 2014 in Russia. |
|
Famous Bearers: |
History: * Demetrius of Alopece (4th century BCE), Greek sculptor noted for his realism. Contemporary: * Dimitar Berbatov (born 1981), Bulgarian footballer.. Literature and Other Media: * Demetrius, a main character in William Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream. |
|
Variants: |
Dmitri, Dmitry (Russian), Dimitar (Bulgarian, Macedonian), Demetrio (Spanish, Italian, Portuguese), Dmitar (Croatian, Serbian), Demetre (Georgian), Dymitr (Polish) |
|
Pronunciation: |
də-MEE-tree [key] |
|
Possible diminutives: |
Demi, Dit, Dima, Mita |
|
Sibling Names: |
Viveka Anastasia Varvara Ekaterina Veronika Laetitia |
|
Name Lists: |
|
If you like Dimitri you may also like: |
Thanks to Marina for requesting this name.
