Demetrius

Demetrius comes from Demeter. Demeter was the Greek goddess of agriculture, and her name translates to "earth mother." There were several early saints named Demetrius, Shakespeare wrote of a Demetrius in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and John Dryden's translation of Plutarch's Demetrius can be found here. Demetrius has been given to baby boys often enough in the U.S. since the 1950's to remain consistently in the top 1000 names, but has never been what could be called "popular." It will probably remain so; as a classical name and a saint's name, it will likely continue to be used, but it would probably require a super-celebrity with the name Demetrius to push it into a popularity spike. The lack of good nicknames for this name also works against it. Although I can't recommend it as a baby name for anyone but the most adventurous of parents, Demetrius is an excellent name for a dog or cat.