Damaris (Acts 17:34) and an Aristocratic Family from Sparta: Neglected Epigraphic Evidence on the Name of a Female Disciple

This article surveys epigraphic evidence for Damaris, Damares and Damari(o)n to
show that these are distinctively Spartan or Laconian names. It rejects the hypothesis that Damaris is a Lukan construction from Homeric δάμαρ (wife) or a typical name for a courtesan. Positively, it suggests that the woman named Damaris in Acts 17:34 could be imagined as a member of the Voluseni family, a prominent Spartan family connected with the Athenian elite. Finally, it examines the rhetorical force that a recognizably Spartan name could have in the narrative of Acts.