A male name. from Greek έράσμμιος ‘beloved’, ‘desired’, the name of a martyr of the Diocletian persecution and one of the 14 Holy Helpers. It is best known, however, as the name of the Dutch scholar and reformer Desiderius Erasmus (1465-1536); his real name was Gerhard (see Gerard) which he erroneously supposed tc mean ‘all heart', and translated into Latin as Desiderius and into Greek as Erasmus. Erasmus came into use in England in the later Middle Ages, particularly in the Eastern Counties, e.g. Erasmus Paston d. 1540, Sir Erasmus Dryden (1553_1632) in whose family the name has been used ever since, and Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802), grandfather of Charles Darwin, who was named after his great-grandfather Sir Erasmus Earle (1590-1667).

From Greek irao (ίράω), ‘I love’: cf. the Iras mentioned under Ira; -mus is the Greek μος; Latin -mus, a frequent suffix. The earliest historical Erasmus ‘was tortured to death in Diocletian’s persecution’ in the early C4. The great Dutch scholar assumed it—incorrectly—as a translation of his name Gerhard; it was his visit to England which introduced it there, though it is now seldom bestowed among us.

The Latin name, from Greek Ερασμος, desirable, pleasant.

Greek (masculine) - Loved.

A Greek name, meaning: The desired: worthy of love: beloved.