David (name)
 Michelangelo's statue of the biblical David. | |
| Pronunciation | Template:IPAlink-en |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Origin | |
| Word/name | Hebrew |
| Meaning | "beloved" |
David is a common English male given name and surname.
The name "David" (Template:Pron-en DAY-vid) is derived from the Biblical Hebrew name דָּוִד (Dāwiḏ IPA: [daːˈvið]), meaning "Beloved". The most important bearer of the name is David, the second king of a united Kingdom of Israel and a major figure in the Bible and the Qur'an. The name occurs over 1000 times in the Hebrew Bible, making it the third most often-occurring name, after Moses and Abraham. In Israel, "Dudi" is a common nickname for David, in the same way Bill is for William in English.[1].
The Arabic and Persian versions are Daud (pronounced " Da-ood") and Dawood (pronounced " Da-wood"), respectively. Both versions are used in Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali and also in Indonesia and Malaysia among Muslim families. The Quran has many references to Daud.
The Georgian version (or pronunciation) is Davit (pronounced Da-vit) but one usually says Dato (pronounced Da-to).
Name days are celebrated on 1 March (for St. David of Wales) and 29 December (for King David), as well as 25 June (St. David of Sweden), 26 June, 26 August, 11 December, and 30 December (Norway).
David is often shortened to "Davey/Davie/Davy" (additionally, in Wales, such variants as "Dafydd" and "Dewi" and such diminutives as "Dai", "Daf" and "Taff/Taffy" are fairly common, although "Dai" was formerly a name in its own right, meaning "shining" in Welsh, prior to the reign of King Henry VII). The oldest, most popular and most commonly-used diminutive form of "David" worldwide is "Dave", which first appeared in written form in the sixteenth century (but is probably much older).[citation needed] In South Africa and Australia it is also a common practice in the Jewish culture to apply the nicknames "Dovi" and "Dov". 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 3000 infants each year[2]. "Davo" is also used as a nickname, and is quite common in Australia, but in some cases is used for people with the surname Davidson.
Another less common variant is "Daveth", the origin of which is uncertain (but could be an anglicised form of the Welsh "Dafydd").
Female equivalents of the name David include "Davida" (no longer in common usage) and "Davina", the latter of which is very popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The girl's name "Davinia" may also have originated from David, though some have argued it is actually the female version of the Gaelic name 'Devin.'
Frequency information
- Northern Ireland: "David" was the most popular masculine given name for newborns in 1975 and had dropped into a fluctuating rank around 20th in the first few years of the 21st Century.[3]
People with the given name David
This page or section lists people that share the same given name.
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.
Monarchs
- David, the Biblical King of Israel (c. 1011–971 BC)
- Edward VIII of Great Britain, whose name in personal use was David
- Emperors of Ethiopia
- David I or Dawit I of Ethiopia
- David II or Dawit II of Ethiopia
- David III or Dawit III of Ethiopia
Other monarchs
- David (Da'ud), an 11th-century CE ruler of the Seljuk Turks
- David of Taman, Khazar ruler of the late 900s CE
Saints
- Saint David, patron saint of Wales
- Saint David (Sweden)
- Saint David of Muscovy or Gleb, brother of saint Roman of Muscovy or Boris, and son of saint Vladimir
Actors
- David Arquette, American actor, director, producer
- David Boreanaz, American actor
- David Carradine, American actor
- David Caruso, American actor
- Dave Chappelle, American comedian
- David Abraham Cheulkar (1908-1981), Indian actor known as "David"
- David Cross, American actor
- David Dayan Fisher, American actor
- David DeLuise, American actor
- David Duchovny, American actor
- Dave Foley, Canadian actor/Comedian
- David Gasman, American actor and director
- David Hasselhoff (b. 1952), American actor, singer, songwriter
- David Hemmings, British actor
- David Henrie, American actor
- David Hewlett, English-born Canadian actor
- David Jason, (b. 1940), British actor
- David Kaye, Canadian actor
- David Letterman, American comedian
- David Mitchell, British comedian/writer
- David Moscow, American actor
- David Niven (1910-1983), English actor
- David Nykl, Czech-born Canadian actor
- David Ogden Stiers, American actor and musician
- David Reivers American actor
- David Palffy, Canadian actor
- David Schwimmer, American actor
- David Soul. American actor
- David Spade, American comic actor
- David Tennant, Scottish actor
- David Thewlis, English actor
- David Walliams, (b. 1971), British comedy actor
- David Wain, American
Biologists
Government figures, politicians
- David Blunkett
- David Byrne (politician) (b. 1947), Irish and European official
- David Cameron, UK Conservative Party leader
- David, an alias of Joseph Stalin
- Dwight David Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States
- David Lam, Canada's first Asian-Canadian Lieutenant-Governor
- David Lloyd GeorgeWelsh Liberal Prime Minister of Britain 1916-1922
- David Miliband
- David Owen (born 1938), UK politician, Labour Foreign Secretary (1977-1979); SDP founder, and leader (1983-1987)
- David Ryon, (born 1969), US politician, Independent Candidate for Mayor of Hilliard, Ohio (1999); Republican Candidate for Congress 12th District Ohio (2008); Republican Candidate for Congress 15th District Ohio (2010)
- David Steel, (born 1938), UK politician, leader of Liberal Party (1976-1988)
Music artists
- David Archuleta (b. 1990), 2008 American Idol (TV Show) runner-up
- David Cook (b. 1982), 2008 American Idol (TV Show) winner
- David Bowie (b. 1947), British rock singer, songwriter, producer
- David Usher (b. 1966), British rock singer-songwriter
- David Gray (b. 1968), British rock singer-songwriter
- David Coverdale (b. 1951) British hard rock vocalist
- David H. Evans (b. 1961), known as The Edge, guitarist in Irish rock band U2
- David Gahan, lead singer of the band Depeche Mode
- Dave Gilmour (b. 1946), British rock singer-songwriter
- David Lee Roth (b. 1953), American rock singer-songwriter
- David Draiman (b. 1973), vocalist of the band Disturbed
- Dave Lombardo (b. 1965), drummer for Slayer
- David Paich (b. 1954), keyboardist of Grammy-winning band Toto
- David Passaro (b. 1975), known as Davey Havok American vocalist of the band A Fire Inside
- Dave Matthews (b. 1967), South African-born singer, guitarist
- Dave Grohl (b. 1969), American drummer with Nirvana, then Foo Fighters
- David Byrne (b. 1952), musician and former Talking Heads frontman
- David Desrosiers, member of Simple Plan
- Dave Mustaine, member of Metallica and Megadeth
- David Ellefson,former member of Megadeth
- David & David, 1980s pop group consisting of two men named David.
- Dave Abbruzzese (b. 1968), American drummer with Pearl Jam
- David Tao, (b. 1969), Taiwanese singer-songwriter
- Davy Jones (actor), formerly of The Monkees
- David Pybus, bassist of British heavy metal group Cradle of Filth
- Dave Navarro, guitarist with Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers
- David Crowder, singer of a 6-piece Christian electronic rock and worship band from Waco, Texas.
- David Silveria, former drummer of KoRn
Sports
- David Abrard (born 1976), French butterfly swimmer
- David Álvarez Aguirre, naturalized Equatoguinean footballer
- David Archuleta (kickboxer), American kickboxer, former United States Air Force airman
- Dave Andreychuk, Canadian ice hockey player
- David Bautista, American professional wrestler
- David Beckham, English footballer
- David Bentley, English footballer
- David Belle, French founder of Parkour
- David Bishop (Athlete), British junior athlete
- David Byrne (English footballer) (born 1961), English football player
- David Byrne (South African footballer), (born c. 1961), South African soccer player and coach
- David Cloke, Australian rules footballer
- David Coulthard, Scottish Formula One racer
- David Eckstein, baseball player for the Toronto Blue Jays, Cardinals 2006 World Series MVP
- David Ferrer, Spanish tennis player
- David Ginola, French footballer
- David James, English footballer
- David Lighty, American college basketball player for Ohio State University
- David Lyons, American swimmer
- David Monasterio, Puerto Rican swimmer
- David Nalbandian, Argentine tennis player
- David Neitz, Australian rules footballer
- David Rhys-Jones, Australian rules footballer
- David Robinson, American former basketball player
- David Ortiz, Dominican baseball player for the Boston Red Sox
- David Seaman, English football goalkeeper
- David Tsebe, South African marathon runner
- David Wharton, American butterfly and medley swimmer
- David Wright, American baseball player
- David Moyes, English football manager
Writers
- David S. Broder, liberal political commentator for The Washington Post
- David Brooks, conservative American op-ed columnist for The New York Times
- David Chase, American screenwriter
- 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
- David Lassman, British writer responsible for the notorious 'Rejecting Jane' article about Jane Austen
- David Mamet, American playwright
- David Mitchell, British novelist
- David Rakoff, American essayist
- David Sedaris, American essayist
- David Simon, American author, journalist, and TV producer
- David Shore
- David Wallace, American novelist
Others
- David Carson, graphic designer
- David of Sasun, an Armenian folk hero
- David Fincher, film director
- David Frost (broadcaster), (b. 1939), British Broadcaster
- David Gest, American TV producer. Formerly married to Liza Minnelli
- David Hayter, Screenwriter and voice actor for Solid Snake
- David Lynch, film director
- Dave Sanders, Victim of the Columbine High School Massacre on April 20, 1999
- Dafydd Stephens Professor of Audiological medicine
- David Talbot, founder of Salon.com Internet magazine
- David Wark Griffith, film director
- David Willis, cartoonist
- David Yonggi Cho, a Korean Christian minister
Fictional characters
- David, child-like android played by Haley Joel Osment in the film A.I.
- David, character in Animorphs
- David, character in the anime/manga Blood+
- David, one of the Delightful Children From Down The Lane
- David, real name of agent "Solid Snake" in the videogame series Metal Gear Solid
- David, one of the human characters on Sesame Street played by Northern Calloway.
- David, vampiric antagonist played by Kiefer Sutherland in The Lost Boys (1987)
- David Copperfield, title character in the book of the same name by Charles Dickens
- David Durango in the film The Sandlot 2
- David Forrest from Hideo Kojima's adventure game Policenauts
- Davy Jones, legendary pirate portrayed in Pirates of the Caribbean; see also Davy Jones' Locker
- David Levinson, main protagonist played by Jeff Goldblum in the film Independence Day
- David Lister, main character of the British sitcom Red Dwarf
- David Platt, character in Coronation Street
- David Talbot in The Vampire Chronicles, book series by Anne Rice
- David Lurie in Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee
- David, a character in the Battle Arena Toshinden fighting game series
- David Papper, a card-throwing member of Chronos in the anime Black Cat
People with the surname David
This page lists people with the surname David.
If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.
If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.
- Albert David (1902-1945), American naval officer
- Félicien-César David (1810-1876), French composer
- Ferdinand David (musician) (1810-1871), German violinist and composer
- Ferenc Dávid (1510-1579), founder of the Unitarian Church in Transylvania
- F. R. David (born 1947), Tunisian-born French singer
- Gerard David (c. 1455-1523), Dutch renaissance painter
- Gyula Dávid (1913–1977), Hungarian composer
- Hérmine David (1886-1970), French painter
- Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825), French neoclassical painter
- Jason David (born 1982), NFL football player for the New Orleans Saints
- Johann Nepomuk David (1895-1977), Austrian composer
- Kornél Dávid (born 1971), Hungarian basketball player
- Larry David (born 1947), American actor and writer
- Peter David (born 1956), American writer
- Craig David (born 1981), English musician
Fictional Characters
- Ziva David, a main character in the series NCIS
References
- ^ The Crosslinguistic Study of Language Acquisition - Page 342 by Dan Isaac Slobin
- ^ U.S. Social Security Administration. "Popular Baby Names."
- ^ "Jack and Emma were the most popular first names in Northern Ireland in 2003" (PDF) (Press release). Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. 2004-01-02. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
(see tables "Comparison with 1975" and "Top 20 Names 2000-2003")
External links
Look up David in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.