Mine is a contraction of my given name. As a child I was only called Desmond when my mother was speaking sternly to me.
My father claimed that I was named for the then captain (later coach) of his beloved Richmond Football Club (Des Rowe), something my mother always denied. She regarded it as a nod to the Irish heritage (it is from the Gaelic for the southern part of Munster, an
historic kingdom where most of my ancestors came from). It was once a moderately common name in Australia, but it had probably become unfashionable even when I was born, except amongst Irish diehards.
My avatar is an Eastern Yellow Robin. Followers of the yard birds or long lenses thread have been subjected to many images of these lively little birds, which in our rural idyll are like the airy spirits of Prospero's island. I love their curiosity, amongst other things.