David (name)

Hypocorisms

The oldest, most popular and most commonly used diminutive form in the English speaking countries of "David" is "Dave", which first appeared in written form in the 16th century. The nickname "Dave" has been used as a name in its own right in the 19th and 20th centuries, at least in the U.S. At the height of its popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s, the name Dave was bestowed upon more than 3,000 infants each year.

Other common English-language hypocorisms of the name David are Davey, Davie, and Davy. The Welsh Dafydd is also abbreviated Dewi, Dai, and Daf

In Ashkenazi Jewish culture, common hypocorisms of Dovid are Dovi and Dov. Dudi is a common hypocorism in Modern Hebrew.

Davo is also used as a nickname, and is quite common in Australia and Armenia, while the nickname Dato (for Davit) is popular in the country of Georgia.

Feminine forms

Feminine forms of the name include Davida, Davetta, and Davina. The girl's name Davinia may derive from David, but it has also been considered a derivation from the Gaelic Devin or a variant of Lavinia.

Statistics

United Kingdom: David was the most popular masculine given name in Northern Ireland for newborns in 1975 and dropped to a fluctuating rank around 20th in the first few years of the 21st century.

United States: David is the second most popular masculine name in the United States. 10,905,563 (1 out of 28) Americans are named David. Approximately 92,597 Davids are born each year.

United States: In 2015, the name David, was the 18th most popular boy's name in the United States.

Late antiquity to early medieval

David was adopted as a Christian name from at least the 6th century.

David the Invincible (6th century), Neoplatonic philosopher

David (commentator) (6th century), Greek scholar

Saint David (6th century), patron saint of Wales

David Saharuni (7th century), presiding prince of Byzantine-controlled Armenia

David I of Iberia (d. 881)

David II of Iberia (d. 937)

David of Bulgaria (d. 976), Bulgarian noble

David III of Tao (d. 1000)

High medieval

Saint David of Muscovy or Gleb (987–1015), brother of Saint Roman of Muscovy or Boris, and son of Saint Vladimir

David of Taman, late 10th century Khazar ruler

David (Da'ud), 11th-century ruler of the Seljuk Turks

David of Munktorp (died c. 1082)

David I of Scotland (d. 1153), Roman Catholic saint

David of Makuria (ruled c. 1268–1272), ruler of Makuria (in what is now Egypt and Sudan)

Kings of Georgia:

David IV of Georgia (d. 1125)

David V of Georgia (d. 1155)

David VI of Georgia (d. 1293)

David VII of Georgia (d. 1270)

David VIII of Georgia (d. 1311)

Late medieval and early modern

David II of Scotland (1324 – 22 February 1371)

Kings of Georgia:

David IX of Georgia (d. 1360)

David X of Kartli (d. 1526)

David XI of Kartli (d. 1579)

Davit as a name adopted by Emperors of Ethiopia:

David I or Dawit I of Ethiopia (1382 – 6 October 1413)

David II or Dawit II of Ethiopia (1501 – September 2, 1540)

David III or Dawit III of Ethiopia (8 February 1716 – 18 May 1721)

David Bek (d. 1728), Armenian military commander

Actors

David Ames (born 1983), English actor

David Anders (born 1981), American actor

David Arquette (born 1971), American actor, director, producer

David Battley (1935–2003), British actor

David Boreanaz (born 1969), American actor

David Carradine (1936–2009), American actor

David Caruso (born 1956), American actor

Dave Chappelle (born 1973), American comedian

David Abraham Cheulkar (1909–1981), Indian actor known as "David"

David Cross (born 1964), American actor

David Conrad (born 1967), American actor

David Dayan Fisher, American actor

David DeLuise (born 1971), American actor

David Dorfman (born 1993), American actor

David Duchovny (born 1960), American actor

Dave Foley (born 1963), Canadian actor/Comedian

David Gasman, American actor and director

David Hasselhoff (born 1952), American actor, singer, songwriter

David Hemmings (1941–2003), British actor

David Henrie, American actor

David Hewlett (born 1968), English-born Canadian actor, writer, director and voice actor

David Jason (born 1940), British actor

David Kaye (born 1964), Canadian actor

David Keith (born 1954), American actor

David Kross (born 1990), German actor

David Lander (born 1947), American actor, comedian, composer, musician and baseball scout

David Letterman (born 1947), American comedian

David Lynch (born 1946), American actor, film and television director, musician

Dave Mallow, American actor

David McCallum (born 1933), Scottish actor

David Mitchell (comedian) (born 1974), British comedian, actor and writer

David Moscow (born 1974), American actor

David Nelson (1936−2011), American actor, director, and producer

David Niven (1910–1983), English actor

David Nykl (born 1967), Czech-born Canadian actor

David Oakes (born 1983), English actor

David Palffy (born 1969), Canadian actor

David Reivers (born 1958), American actor

David Schwimmer (born 1966), American actor

David Soul (born 1943), British-American actor

David Spade (born 1964), American comic actor

David Ogden Stiers (born 1942), American actor and musician

David Tennant (born 1971), Scottish actor

David Thewlis (born 1963), English actor

David Tomlinson (1917–2000), English actor

David Walliams (born 1971), British comedy actor

David Wain (born 1969), American comedian

Dave Wittenberg (born 1971), American actor

Jude Law (born 1972 as David Jude Heyworth Law), British actor

Biologists

David Attenborough (born 1926), English broadcaster and naturalist

David Bellamy (born 1933), British author and environmental campaigner

David J. Lipman, Director of the National Center for Biotechnology Information

David Suzuki (born 1936), Japanese Canadian science broadcaster and environmental activist

Politicians

David Ben-Gurion, first Prime Minister of Israel

David Blunkett, British MP

David Byrne (Irish politician) (born 1947), Irish and European official

David Cameron (born 1966), British Prime Minister

Dwight David Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States

David Grimes, former member of the Alabama House of Representatives

David Lam (real estate entrepreneur), Canada's first Asian-Canadian Lieutenant-Governor

David Laws (born 1965), British MP

David Lloyd George, Welsh Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1916–1922

David Miliband (born 1965), British MP

David Owen (born 1938), UK politician, Labour Foreign Secretary (1977–1979); SDP founder, and leader (1983–1987)

David Shaw (UK politician) (born 1950), accountant, British Conservative politician

David Steel, (born 1938), UK politician, leader of Liberal Party (1976–1988)

Musicians

Dave Abbruzzese (born 1968), American drummer with Pearl Jam

David Archuleta (born 1990), 2008 American Idol (TV show) runner-up

David Arkenstone (born 1952), new age composer

David Bowie (1947-2016), British rock singer, songwriter, producer

David Brubeck (1920–2012), American jazz pianist and composer

David Byrne (born 1952), musician and former Talking Heads frontman

Dave Clark (born 1942), drummer with UK band The Dave Clark Five

David Clayton Thomas (born 1941) lead singer for Blood Sweat & Tears

David Cook (born 1982), 2008 American Idol (TV show) winner

David Coverdale (born 1951) British hard rock vocalist

David Crowder (born 1971), singer of a 6-piece Christian electronic rock and worship band from Waco, Texas

David & David, 1980s pop group consisting of two men named David

Dave Davies (born 1947), lead guitarist and vocalist of the Kinks

David Desrosiers (born 1980), member of Simple Plan

David Draiman (born 1973), vocalist of the band Disturbed

Dave Edmunds (born 1944), Welsh singer, guitarist and record producer

Dave Ellefson (born 1964),American Bassist, member of Megadeth

David H. Evans (born 1961), known as The Edge, guitarist in Irish rock band U2

David Essex (born 1947), English singer-songwriter and actor

David Gahan (born 1962), lead singer of the band Depeche Mode

David Garrett (born 1981), German-American classical violinist and recording artist

David Gilmour (born 1946), British rock singer-songwriter

David Gray (born 1968), British rock singer-songwriter

Dave Grohl (born 1969), American drummer with Nirvana, then Foo Fighters

Dave Grusin (born 1934), American composer of The Goonies

Davey Havok (born 1975), American vocalist of the band AFI

Davy Jones (1945–2012), actor and singer-songwriter with The Monkees

Dave Lombardo (born 1965), drummer for Slayer

David Lowery (born 1960), American guitarist, singer-songwriter for Cracker

Dave Matthews (born 1967), South African-born singer, guitarist

Dave Mustaine (born 1961),American Guitarist, Singer. member of Metallica and Megadeth

David Nail (born 1979), country singer

Dave Navarro (born 1967), guitarist with Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers

David Nevue (born 1965), solo piano composer and a pianist

Dave O'Higgins (born 1964), British jazz saxophonist

David Paich (born 1954), keyboardist of Grammy-winning band Toto

David Pybus, bassist of British heavy metal group Cradle of Filth

David Lee Roth (born 1953), American rock singer-songwriter

Dave Rowntree (born 1964), drummer of Blur

David Ruffin (1941-1991), American R&B singer and dancer, lead singer of The Temptations

David Silveria (born 1972), former drummer of KoRn

David A. Stewart (born 1952), Eurythmics and Dave Stewart and the Spiritual Cowboys

David Ray Stephens (born 1961), independent singer/songwriter

Dave Swarbrick (born 1941), English folk musician and singer-songwriter

David Tao, (born 1969), Taiwanese singer-songwriter

David Usher (born 1966), British rock singer-songwriter

Athletes

David Abrard (born 1976), French butterfly swimmer

David Alaba, Austrian footballer

David Albelda, Spanish footballer

David Álvarez Aguirre, Spanish naturalized Equatoguinean footballer

David Attewell, (born 1974), English basketball player

David Ambler (ice hockey) (born 1979), Canadian ice hockey player and coach

David Andersen, Australian professional basketball player

Dave Andreychuk, Canadian ice hockey player

David Artell, English footballer

David Aucagne, French rugby union player

David Barlow, Australian basketball player

Dave Batista, American professional wrestler

David Beckham, English footballer

David Belle, French founder of Parkour

David Ben Dayan, Israeli football player (Hapoel Tel Aviv & national team)

David Bentley, English footballer

David Binn, American football All-Pro long snapper (San Diego Chargers)

David Bishop (Athlete), British junior athlete

David Blair (rugby player), Edinburgh rugby player

David Blatt, Israeli-American basketball player and coach

David Blu (formerly "Bluthenthal"), American and Israeli Euroleague basketball forward (Maccabi Tel Aviv)

David Boston (born 1978), American football player

David Byrne (English footballer) (born 1961), English football player

David Byrne (South African footballer), (born c. 1961), South African soccer player and coach

David Carney, Australian footballer

David Chaussinand, French hammer thrower

David Cloke, Australian rules footballer

David Coulthard, Scottish Formula One racer

David de Gea, Spanish footballer

David Douillet, French judo athlete

David Dunn, English footballer

David Eckstein, American baseball (Toronto Blue Jays, Cardinals 2006 World Series MVP)

David Ferrer, Spanish tennis player

David Foucault, Canadian gridiron football player

David Freese, American baseball player

David de Gea, Spanish footballer, goalkeeper playing for Manchester United

David Ginola, French footballer

David Gower, English cricketer

David Gower (rugby league), Australian Rugby League player

David Hala, Australian Rugby League player

David Healy (footballer), Northern Ireland international footballer

Dave Hiscock, New Zealand professional motorcycle racer (1970s–80s)

David Jack, English football manager

David James (footballer), English footballer

David Jarolím, Czech footballer

David Klemmer, Australian Rugby League player

David Kushnir (born 1931), Israeli Olympic long-jumper

David Lane (cricketer), Montserratian cricketer

David Lee (basketball), American basketball player

David Legwand, American professional ice hockey player

David Lighty, American college basketball player (Ohio State University)

David Lipsky, golfer

David Logan (basketball), Polish basketball player

David Lyons (swimmer), American swimmer

Dave Magadan, American baseball player

David Mark Berger, American-born Israeli, Maccabiah champion (middleweight); killed by terrorists in the Munich Massacre

David McCray, German basketballer

David McDuling, Australian Rugby Union player

David Monasterio, Puerto Rican swimmer

David Moyes, Scottish football manager

David Murphy (disambiguation), multiple people

David N'Gog, French footballer

David Nalbandian, Argentine tennis player

David Neitz, Australian rules footballer

David Nemirovsky, Canadian hockey right wing (CSKA Moscow)

David Nesbitt, Bahamian basketball player

David Nofoaluma, Australian Rugby League player

David O'Leary, Irish football manager

David Odonkor, German footballer

David Ortiz, Dominican baseball player (Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox)

David Pender, American football players

David Pizarro, Chilean footballer

David Pleat, English football manager Tottenham Hotspur, Luton Town)

David Rhys-Jones, Australian rules footballer

Dave Roberts (pitcher), American major league baseball pitcher

David Robinson (basketball), American former basketball player

David Rundqvist (born 1993), Swedish ice hockey player

David Seaman, English football goalkeeper

David Shaw (American football) (born 1972), Stanford Cardinal football head coach

David Shaw (Australian footballer) (born 1938), Australian footballer

David Shaw (Canadian football) (born 1953), Canadian football player

David Shaw (cricketer) (born 1967), English cricketer

David Shaw (diver) (1954–2005), Australian scuba diver

David Shaw (footballer) (born 1948), English footballer

David Shaw (ice hockey) (born 1964), Canadian hockey player

David Silva, Spanish footballer

David Simmons (rugby league) (born 1984), Australian rugby league player

David Stagg (born 1983), Australian Rugby League player

Dave Stephens (javelin thrower) (born 1962), American javelin thrower

David Stephens, (Born 1991), English footballer

David Stockdale, goalkeeper playing for Fulham

David Suazo, Honduran footballer

David Sullivan (disambiguation)

David Tabak (1927-2012), Israeli Olympic runner

David Taylor (footballer born 1965), Welsh football player and coach

David Trezeguet, French footballer

David Tsebe, South African marathon runner

David Tua, New Zealand heavy weight boxer

David Tyshler, Soviet saber fencer

David Villa, Spanish footballer

David West (basketball), American basketball player

David Wharton, American butterfly and medley swimmer

David Wright, American baseball player

Authors

David Batstone (21st century), American journalist

David S. Broder, political commentator for The Washington Post

David Chase, American screenwriter

David F. Dodge, American novelist

David Eddings, American fantasy writer

David Eggers, American writer, editor, and publisher

David Frum, conservative Canadian-American political writer

David Gerrold, science fiction novelist who wrote "The Trouble With Tribbles" episode of Star Trek

David Hume, Scottish philosopher

David Henry Hwang, American playwright

Dovid Kaplan, senior lecturer at Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem, popular author and speaker

David Kroyanker, Israeli architectural historian

David Lassman, British writer responsible for the 'Rejecting Jane' article about Jane Austen and co-author of The Regency Detective series of novels

David Le Sage, Australian writer and Christian anti-war activist

David Mamet, American playwright

David Mills (1961–2010), American television writer and producer

David Mitchell, British novelist

David Rakoff, American essayist

David Ricardo, British political economist

David Sedaris, American essayist

David Shaw (writer) (1943–2005), American journalist for the Los Angeles Times

David Simon, American author, journalist, and TV producer

David Shore, Canadian writer and television producer

David Foster Wallace (1962–2008), American novelist and essayist

David Woodard, American writer and conductor

Others

David Brooks (disambiguation)

David Burroughs Mattingly, digital artist

David Carnegie (disambiguation)

David Carson, graphic designer

David Carter CBE (born 1927), British industrial designer and educator.

David Charlesworth, English Catholic abbot

David Dimbleby, British TV commentator and presenter of current affairs and political programmes.

David Feinstein, rabbi

David Fincher, film director

David Frost, (1939–2013), British broadcaster

David Gest, American TV producer

David Wark Griffith, film director

David Hamilton, British photographer

David Hatendi, (1953-2012), banker and Rhodes Scholar

David Hayter, screenwriter and voice actor for Solid Snake

David Horler, father of Natalie Horler

David H. Jarvis, captain in the United States Revenue Cutter Service

David Lynch, film director

David Marshall, goalkeeper playing for Cardiff City F.C.

David Ramsden, contestant on Big Brother 10 (UK)

David Rebibo, congregational rabbi and Jewish day school dean

David Saint-Jacques, Canadian astronaut

David Sanders (disambiguation)

David Shaw (disambiguation)

David Stephens (public servant)

David Talbot, founder of Salon.com Internet magazine

David Toska, Norwegian bank robber

David Vetter (1971–1984), the "Boy in the Bubble"

David Willis, cartoonist

David Woodard, American businessman

David Yonggi Cho, Korean Christian minister

Fictional characters

David (Animorphs), a character in four of the 54+ Animorphs books.

David (Sesame Street), a human character on Sesame Street from 1971 to 1989, played by Northern Calloway.

David Xanatos, one of the main antagonists, turned ally in the animated series, Gargoyles.

David, a character in the Battle Arena Toshinden fighting game series.

David Aames, a character in the 2001 film Vanilla Sky

David "Dave" Bowman, the protagonist of 2001: A Space Odyssey

Dr. David Banner, main character from TV series The Incredible Hulk.

David Copperfield, title character in the book of the same name by Charles Dickens.

David Fisher, one of the main characters from the HBO series, Six Feet Under.

David Freeman, the main character in the movie Flight of the Navigator.

David "Dave" Lister, main character of the British sitcom Red Dwarf

David Marcus, Captain Kirk's son in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

David Platt, character in Coronation Street

David Tarrant, a senior police chief at New Scotland Yard, London, England, from the ;;Power of Five;; series

David Telford, a recurring character in Stargate Universe

David "Dave" Turner, in Degrassi: The Next Generation

David the Gnome

David, real name of Solid Snake, protagonist of several Metal Gear videogames.

David Rossi a main character in the series Criminal Minds

David "Dave" Seville, a main character in the Alvin and the Chipmunks series.

David, the main character in the movie A.I. Artificial Intelligence

David, in the movie Prometheus

David of Sassoun, Armenian epic hero

David Nolan (Once Upon a Time), character in abc series, Once Upon a Time (TV series).

Variants

Afrikaans: Dawid

Albanian: Davidi, Dauti

Arabic: modern Arabic spelling: داوود or traditional: داود (Dāwūd, Daawuud, Daafid, Dawud, Dawood, Da'ud, Daúd)

Armenian

Eastern: Դավիթ (Davitʻ)

Western: Դավիթ (Tʻavitʻ)

Assamese: দাউদ (Daud), ডেভিড (Devhid)

Azerbaijani: Davud, داوود

Biblical Greek: Δαυὶδ, Δαβίδ, Δαυΐδ, Δαυείδ, Δαυίδης

Biblical Hebrew: Dawid

Bashkir: Дауыт (Dawït)

Basque: Dabid

Bosnian: Davud, Dawud, Daud, Daut

Breton: Dewi

Bulgarian: Давид, Давидко

Catalan: David

Cornish: Daveth

Croatian: David

Czech: David, Davídek

Danish: David

Dutch: David

Esperanto: Davido

Estonian: Taavet, Taavi

Amharic: Dawit

Faroese: Dávur, Dávid, Dávið, Dávi

Filipino: David, Davide

Finnish: Daavid, Taavetti, Taavi, Taavo

French: David

Fula: Dauda, Daouda

Galician: Davlaaaar

Ge'ez: Dawit

Georgian: დავით (Davit), დათო (Dato), დათა (Data), დათუჩა (Datucha), დათიკო (Datiko), დათუნა (Datuna)

German: David

Greek: Δαβίδ (David)

Gujarati: ડેવિડ (Ḍēviḍa)

Hausa: Dauda, Daouda

Hawaiian: Kawika, Havika, Kāwika

Hebrew: Hebrew spelling without diacritics: דויד‎ or full diacritics: דָּוִד‎ (David)

Hindi: दाऊद (Dāūd), डेविड (Ḍēviḍ)

Hungarian: Dávid

Icelandic: Davíð

Indonesian: Daud

Inuktitut: ᑖᕕᑦ (Taavit)

Irish: Dáibhídh, Dáibhead, Daithí

Italian: Davide

Japanese: デイビッド (Deibiddo), ダビデ (Dabide)

Kannada: ಡೇವಿಡ್ (Ḍēviḍ)

Khmer: ដាវីត (Daaviit)

Korean: 데빗 (Debit), 데이빗 (Deibit), 데이비드 (Deibideu), 다비드 (Dabideu), 다윗 (Dawit)

Latin: David

Latvian: Dāvids, Dāvis

Lithuanian: Dovydas, Deividas

Malayalam: David, Devassy

Macedonian: Давид (DeJvid)

Manado Malay: Davij, Davi, Dav, Daud

Mandarin Simplified Chinese: 戴维 (Dàiwéi), 大卫 (Dàwèi), 大維 (Dàwéi)

Mandarin Traditional Chinese: 戴維 (Dàiwéi), 大衛 (Dàwèi), 大維 (Dàwéi)

Mandinka: Dawda, Dauda, Daouda

Manx: Davy

Māori: Rāwiri

Marathi: दावीद (Dāvīda)

Medieval English: Daw

Mi'kmaq: Dabit

Northern Sami: Dávvet

Norwegian: David

Persian: داوود or داود (Davud)

Polish: Dawid

Portuguese: Davi (only in Brazil), David (Brazil and Portugal)

Punjabi: ਦਾਊਦ ਨੂੰ (Dā'ūda nū)

Romanian: David

Russian: Давид (Davíd), Давыд (Davýd), Дэйвид (Déjvid)

Samoan: Tavita

Scots: Dauvit, Dauid

Scottish Gaelic: Dàibheid, Dàibhidh

Serbian: Давид (David)

Skolt Sami: Daa´ved

Slovak: Dávid, David

Slovenian: David

Spanish: David

Swahili: Daudi

Swedish: David, Dawid

Syriac: ܕܘܝܕ (Dawid or Da'wood)

Tamil: தாவீது (Daveedu)

Telugu: డేవిడ్ (Ḍēviḍ)

Thai: เดวิด (Dewid)

Tiberian: Dāwîḏ

Turkish: Davut, Davud

Ukrainian: Давид (Davyd), Devid

Urdu: داؤد (Dāūd), ڈیوڈ (Ḍēviḍ)

Welsh: Dafydd, Dewi, Dai, Dewydd

Yiddish: Dovid, Dawid

Yoruba: Dafidi, Dawodu, Dauda.

Zulu: uDavide

As a surname

David emerges as a surname derived from the given name (patronymic) in the early modern period.

People with the surname

Gerard David (c. 1455–1523), Dutch renaissance painter

Ferenc Dávid (1510–1579), founder of the Unitarian Church in Transylvania

Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825), French neoclassical painter

Pierre Jean David (1788–1856), called "David d'Angers", French sculptor

Félicien-César David (1810–1876), French composer

Ferdinand David (musician) (1810–1873), German violinist and composer

Edgeworth David (1858–1934), Welsh-Australian geologist and explorer

Leopold David (1878 or 1881–1924), first mayor of Anchorage, Alaska

Dickie David (1879–1939), Wales national rugby union player

Hérmine David (1886–1970), French painter

Johann Nepomuk David (1895–1977), Austrian composer

Albert David (1902–1945), American naval officer

Hilario P. Davide, Sr. (1904–2006), Filipino teacher and politician

Constantin David (1908-1941), Romanian communist activist

Gyula Dávid (1913–1977), Hungarian composer

Hal David (1921–2012), American lyricist and songwriter

F. R. David (born 1947), Tunisian-born French singer

Larry David (born 1947), American comedian, writer, and actor

Keith David (born 1956), American actor

Peter David (born 1956), American writer

Leonardo David (1960–1985), Italian alpine skier

Cristian David (born 1967), Romanian politician

Stuart David (born 1969), Scottish musician and novelist

Anna David (journalist) (born 1970), American journalist

Kornél Dávid (born 1971), Hungarian basketball player

Gary David (born 1978), Filipino professional basketball player

Craig David (born 1981), English musician

Jason David (born 1982), NFL football player for the New Orleans Saints

Anna David (singer) (born 1984), Danish pop and soul music singer

Colt David (born 1985), American football player

Elizabeth David (1913–1992), British cookery writer

Fictional characters

Martin David, the main character in the film The Hunter

Ziva David, a main character in the series NCIS