Philammon, because of its phil- element, can only have a favourable sense, as will those names below also starting thus. The element means 'to love' (phileo), and in the case of Philammon means 'lover of the race-track', with the second element being ammos, 'race-track'. (The better-known word for this course was hippodromos.)
Philammon was a famous minstrel, the son of Apollo and Chione (and so the half-brother of Autolycus). The name simply implies that he enjoyed either watching horse races or participating in them. There are many twentieth-century Philammons who share his pleasure.
