Sebastian: What Does the Name Mean?

Some names are familiar, but no famous people with this name come to mind off-hand. The name Sebastian has been around for centuries, but unlike many other saints’ names, it hasn’t got an equally popular female equivalent (Sebastiana isn’t often met). So what’s the name’s history and why hasn’t it become so very popular in the English-speaking world?

Origin and Meaning of the Name

Sebastian comes from the ancient Roman name Sebastianus which meant "from Sebaste" in Latin. Sebaste was the name a town in Asia Minor, Lesser Armenia (modern Sivas, Turkey). The town was named for Emperor Augustus, from Greek σεβαστος (sebastos) "venerable", which is a Greek translation of Latin Augustus. Augustus was the title of the Roman emperors that meant “venerable, honored, respected” in Latin.

The Road near ancient Sebaste, Anatolia

History and Popularity

Sebastian first appears as the name of a well-known 3rd-century Roman martyr saint. The legend goes that he was a soldier in the Praetorian Guard of the Roman emperor himself. He assisted other Christians on numerous occasions and when his faith was found out, the emperor ordered him tied to a shooting target and pierced by arrows. Severely wounded, he was nursed back to health by St. Irene, but returned to the palace to admonish the emperor for his cruelty towards the early Christians. He was then put to death by the emperor. St Sebastian was very popular during the Middle Ages, becoming the patron saint of soldiers, plague victims, and ironically archers. Traditionally, he was portrayed in paintings as a handsome youth tied to a tree and pierced by arrows. The plague was often visualized in medieval manuscripts as caused by black arrows piercing its victims, which is probably how the saint got associated with the disease.

St. Sebastian, 1503 by Raphael

The name remained popular in Spain, France, and Germany late into the Renaissance (often as Bastian or Bastien), but it wasn’t common in England; the only exception is Cornwall, where it seems to have been borrowed from France. It seems that, like other names with strong Catholic ties, the name fell gradually out of use when England became officially Anglican in the 16^th century.

In the United States, the name has had a recent surge of popularity; it wasn’t in the 50 most popular names for boys born in 2008, but soared up to the 18^th place in 2022. It’s also very popular in Norway and Denmark, being the 13th most popular name for boys born in Norway in 2007. Always familiar in South America with its strong Catholic background, it rose to be the fifth most popular name for boys born in Chile in 2006.

Trivia

• King Sebastian of Portugal (1554 – 1578) was a 16th-century king of Portugal who died in a crusade against the Moors of Morocco. He became a legendary figure in Portuguese lore, with claims that he hasn’t truly died and will return to rescue Portugal in its time of need.  
• Sebastiano del Piombo (1485 –1547) was a famous Italian High Renaissance painter.

“Polyphemus” by Sebastiano del Piombo; Johann Sebastian Bach by Johann Emanuel Göbel; Oscar Wilde, photo by Elliott & Fry

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was a German composer of the late Baroque; his most famous works include the Brandenburg Concertos and The St Matthew Passion.
• Sebastian Bach (real name Sebastian Philip Bierk, b. 1968) is the name of a former member of the Canadian heavy metal band Skid Row.
• Sebastian Melmoth was Oscar Wilde's pseudonym during his exile in France; he possibly derived it from St. Sebastian.

Trader Faulkner as Sebastian with Vivien Leigh as Viola in “Twelfth Night” (1955); Colonel Moran, illustration by Sidney Paget; Anthony Andrews as Sebastian Flyte in the 1981 British TV series “Brideshead Revisited”

• This is the name of Viola’s brother in Shakespeare’s play “Twelfth Night” (1601-02); Shakespeare used the name again in “The Tempest” (1610-11) for a cowardly villain.
• Colonel Sebastian Moran is a character in the Sherlock Holmes story “The Adventure of the Empty House” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
• Lord Sebastian Flyte is one of the main characters in Evelyn Waugh’s “Brideshead Revisited”.
• Sebastian Valmont is the name of one of the villains in “The Dangerous Liaisons” (1782) by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos.
• Sebastian is the name of the red Jamaican crab and Ariel’s friend in Disney’s “The Little Mermaid”.

Sebastian and Ariel

• A name book from the 1900s describes the character of the name Sebastian as: “Serious, conventional, and conscientious. Suited for married life. If a bachelor is inclined to become self-centred and irritable^[1].”

The name in literature

 

What People Think of the Name Sebastian from BehindtheName website

St. Oswald's boys were not called Ben. St Oswald's boys were called Leon, or Jasper, or Rufus or Sebastian. A St Oswald's boy can pass off a name like Orlando, can make it sound like peppermint. Even Rupert sounds somehow cool when attached to a navy-blue St Oswald's blazer.

~ From Blueeyedboy by Joanne Harris, 2010

 

Sources:

https://www.behindthename.com/name/sebastian

The Wordsworth Dictionary of First Names. Iseabail Macleod & Terry Freedman. Wordsworth, 1995. ISBN 1-85326-366-4

The Meanings of Christian Names. Anonymous. Duff Press, 2011. ISBN 1446536440, 9781446536445

 

 

 

 

 

 

---

[1] The Meanings of Christian Names. Anonymous. Duff Press, 2011. ISBN 1446536440, 9781446536445