Davian

Davian landed a spot on the American Top 1000 list of baby boy names for the first time in 2004 following the appearance of Davin, Davon and Davion. All four of these monikers are used primarily within the African-American community (although not exclusively). Davian has never achieved any success beyond low-mild usage nationwide but he has managed to carve out a place on the list. It’s a fresh twist to the time-honored David. It also has a genteel old-school Latinate sound reminiscent of names like Julian, Adrian, Damian and Fabian. One thing we feel obligated to mention, however, is that Davian is a name tied to a psychological behavior which is somewhat…err…aberrant. “Davian behavior” is synonymous with necrophilia (copulation with a corpse); it was a term coined in 1960 by a zoologist who observed the practice among ground squirrels. The zoologist (Dickerman) must have had a sense of humor, because he labeled the creepy conduct “Davian behavior” after a bawdy Irish limerick: “There once was a hermit named Dave / Who kept a dead whore in his cave. / ‘I know it's a sin,’ / He said with a grin, / ‘But think of the money I save!’”. And no. We’re not joking. We never joke about necrophilia… or “Davian behavior”.