The name Damaris is a Greek name possibly meaning 'calf' or 'gentle.' Damaris was a woman in Athens who believed Paul's message about the resurrection, one of the few named converts from his speech on the Areopagus (Acts 17).
Damaris represents the firstfruits of the Greek philosophical world responding to the gospel. Paul's Areopagus speech (Acts 17:22–34) was a masterpiece of contextualized evangelism — engaging Stoic and Epicurean thinkers on their own intellectual terrain. That among the handful of converts Scripture names is a woman demonstrates the gospel's radical social inclusivity. In a culture where women had limited participation in philosophical discourse, Damaris stood out enough to be remembered by name.