David - Name Meaning and Origin

The boy's name David \d(a)-vid\ is pronounced DAY-vid. It is of Hebrew origin, and its meaning is "beloved". Biblical: one of the most remarkable personalities in the Scriptures. David was a shepherd, musician, poet, soldier, statesman, prophet, and king. He wrote about half of the Psalms and very likely composed music for them as well. He is the only David mentioned in the Bible; his name occurs there more than a thousand times. Today there are variants of the name in almost every language group. Saint David (sixth century) is the patron saint of Wales. In Scotland, David was a royal name. See also Dawson and Davion. Explorer David Livingstone; actors David Niven, David Arquette, David Duchovny, David Schwimmer; baseball star Dave Winfield; TV host David Letterman; musician David Bowie; soccer player David Beckham.

David has 21 variant forms: Daffy, Daffyd, Dafydd, Dai, Dave, Davey, Davi, Davidde, Davide, Davidson, Davie, Daviel, Davies, Davin, Davis, Daven, Davon, Davy, Davyd, Davydd and Davyn.

For more information, see also related names Dajon, Davian, Dewey and Tab.

Baby names that sound like David are Daivat and Taft.

David is a very popular male first name and a very popular surname (source: 1990 U.S. Census). Displayed below is the baby name popularity trend for the boy's name David. Click here to compare David with related baby names.