David

DAY-vid

Hebrew

"beloved"

David Origin and Meaning

The name David is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "beloved".

David is an enduring worldwide classic, used from ancient times to the present day.

David is derived from the Hebrew name Dawid, believed to come from the root dôwd, meaning "beloved". The first famous David was the Old Testament second king of Israel: the shepherd boy who killed the giant Goliath, and later a warrior, poet, and powerful leader, wise but humanly fallible. He is an important figure in Judaism, Islam and Christianity, and later inspired many works of art, including Michelangelo’s colossal sculpture.

Since then, there have been countless Davids of note in history, literature, and popular culture, including the patron saint of Wales — a translation of the Welsh name Dewi — two kings of Scotland. Then there’s Copperfield, Crockett, Bowie, Beckham, Letterman, Grohl, and many more. Celebrities who have chosen it for their sons include Jennifer Hudson, Bar Refaeli, and J.K. Rowling.

In its international forms, David is steadily popular around the world, and ranks in the Top 10 names in Brazil, Austria, Armenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Israel.

In the USA, David has never been out of the Top 40 boy names, but was at peak popularity in the mid-twentieth century, ranking in the Top 10 from 1936-1992. This means that, although it’s still given to thousands of boys each year, it has an "older man" feel to it. It ranks highest in states with a large Jewish population, and is still a Top 10 name in New York.

After Daniel, David is the second most popular boy name starting with D. Although fading a little in popularity, it remains a serious-yet-friendly classic with deep roots.

If you’re looking to update David, perhaps as an honor name, the freshest alternatives are surnames deriving from David, including Dawes, Dawson, and Davies. You could also try an international variation, like Welsh Dai or Finnish Taavi.

David Rank in US Top 1000

# 27 in the US

David Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 130 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name David

• 27 US 2023
• 130 Nameberry 2025
• 47 Canada 2023
• 30 Future 2035
• 65 England 2023
• 71 Scotland 2024
• 40 Ireland 2024
• 91 Australia 2015
• 64 New Zealand 2024
• 89 France 2018
• 27 Germany 2024
• 44 Netherlands 2024
• 21 Spain 2023
• 32 Portugal 2020
• 15 Mexico 2021
• 92 Sweden 2020
• 35 Belgium 2023
• 21 Switzerland 2023
• 8 Austria 2023
• 79 Poland 2024
• 22 Slovenia 2023
• 1 Israel 2023
• 64 Chile 2021
• 40 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2023
• 3 Croatia 2023
• 62 Azerbaijan 2022

20 Names Similar to David

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like David.

• Joseph
• Christopher
• Daniel
• Michael
• Andrew
• Matthew
• Adam
• John
• Nicholas
• Timothy
• Jonathan
• Robert
• Joshua
• Anthony
• Patrick
• Stephen
• Mark
• Samuel
• Paul
• Thomas

Famous People Named David

• David 2nd King of Israel
• David "Davy" Crockett American frontiersman and politician
• David Laʻamea Kahalepouli Kinoiki Kawānanakoa Prince of Hawaiʻi
• David Lloyd George 1st Earl Lloyd,George of Dwyfor, British Prime Minister
• David Hume Scottish Philosopher
• David Frederick Attenborough English naturalist and broadcaster
• David Randolph Scott American astronaut
• David Howell Petraeus American former CIA director
• David William Donald Cameron FORMER British Prime Minister
• David Bowie (born David Robert Jones) English musician
• David Robert Joseph Beckham English footballer
• David Keith Lynch American director
• David Michael Hasselhoff American actor and singer
• David Arquette American actor
• David Julian Dobrik Slovak YouTuber
• David Byrne American musician of "Talking Heads"
• David Michael Letterman American television host
• David Alasdair Boudia American diver
• David Thomas "Davy" Jones English singer of The Monkees
• David John "Dave" Franco American actor
• David Michael "Dave" Mirra American professional BMX rider
• David Eric "Dave" Grohl American musician of the Foo Fighters
• David John "Dave" Matthews American musician
• David Warren "Dave" Brubeck American jazz pianist
• Robert David "Dave" Grusin American film composer
• David Khari Webber "Dave" Chappelle American comedian
• David Allen "Dave" Meltzer American sports journalist
• David Scott "Dave" Mustaine lead guitarist for American band Metallica
• David "Dave" Fleischer American animator
• David Victor "Dave" Sim Canadian cartoonist
• David "Dave" Sexton English footballer
• David Allan "Dave" Righetti American baseball player and coach
• David Mark "Dave" Winfield American baseball player
• David "Dave" Nizam Baksh Canadian guitarist of Sum 41 and Brown Brigade
• David "Dave" Rodman Annable American actor
• David "Dave" Gardner British sports agent
• David William Duchovny American actor
• David Hyde Pierce American actor
• David Tennant (born David John McDonald) Scottish actor
• David Clayton Henrie American actor
• David Albert Mazouz American child actor
• David Abraham Adler American children's author
• David Berman American actor and researcher
• David Cloud Berman American musician of band The Silver Jews
• David Boreanaz American actor
• John Arthur "David" Carradine American actor
• David Roland Cook American musician
• David Eigenberg American actor
• David Howell Evans aka The Edge Irish musician of U2
• David Jon Gilmour English musician of Pink Floyd
• David Wright Miliband British Politician
• David James Stuart Mitchell English actor and comedian
• David Mark Morrissey English actor
• David Alan Robertson American baseball pitcher
• David Allen Wright American baseball player
• David Lawrence Schwimmer American actor
• David Wayne Spade American actor and comedian
• David Courtney Suchet English actor
• David Krejci Czech ice Hockey player
• David "Dave" Shelton American rapper of the group "Another Bad Creation"
• David Scott "Dave" Foley Canadian actor
• David Bruce Cassidy American actor/singer
• David Richard Freese American baseball player
• David Hilbert German mathematician
• David Joseph Bohm American theoretical physicist
• David Jonathan Gross American particle physicist, string theorist and Nobel prize winner
• David Bagrationi Prince Regent of Georgia
• David Russell Strathairn American actor
• David James "Dave" Gorman English comedian
• David Wallace Crowder American Christian Musician
• David Gulpilil (Ridjimiraril Dalaithngu) Aboriginal Australian actor
• David Lambert American actor
• David Lauren son of American fashion designer Ralph Lauren
• David Spencer aka iBallisticSquid English YouTuber
• David Nagle aka Daithi De Nogla Irish YouTuber
• David Ramsey American actor
• David Portner aka Avey Tare American musician of Animal Collective
• David Michael "Dave" Bautista American actor and pro wrestler
• David Philippe Desrosiers French Canadian bass player of Simple Plan
• David Miscavige leader of the Church of Scientology
• David Kaufman American voice actor
• David Daniel Otunga Jr. (b. 2009) son of American singer and actress Jennifer Hudson
• David Lee Roth American lead singer for the band Van Halen
• David Jarre French magician and musician, son of composer Jean,Michel Jarre and actress Charlotte Rampling
• David Harbour American actor
• David McGoldrick Irish professional footballer
• David Green British film director, TV producer, and media executive
• David Michael Burtka American Actor and Chef; married to American actor Neil Patrick Harris
• David James Furnish Candian Filmmaker; married to British singer and songwriter Sir Elton John
• David Goffin Belgian tennis player
• David Ferrer Ern Spanish tennis player
• David Rosen (b. 1930) American businessman co,founder of the Japanese video game company Sega
• David Ezra (b. 2020) son of Bar Refaeli and Adi Ezra.
• David Andrew Burd American rapper and comedian, better known by his stage name Lil Dicky

The name David in Pop Culture

• David Tanaka doctor on Australian soap "Neighbours"
• City of David another name for Jerusalem
• David Gamut character in "Last of the Mohicans," by James Fenimore Cooper
• Dr. David Marrow character in "Haunting of Hill House"
• "David Copperfield " novel by Charles Dickens
• Dr. David "Mr. Bone" Huxley character in "Bringing Up Baby"
• David robotic boy in the movie "AI"
• David character in "The Uglies" series
• David Nolan/Prince Charming character on the TV's "Once Upon a Time"
• David Rossi character on "Criminal Minds"
• David Camden one of the twins on TV's "Seventh Heaven"
• David Brent from the UK TV series "The Office"
• David McCall villian in the movie "Fear"
• David Shayne character in movie "Bullets over Broadway"
• David Stenfaeldt character from The dung,beetle flies at dusk, by Maria Gripe
• David Fletcher "One Tree Hill"
• David Charleston main character in The Reckoners Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson
• David Singh character in DC Universe
• David "Dave" Stutler main character in the movie "The Sorcerer's Apprentice"
• David "Dave" Seville main character in the movie "Alvin and the Chipmunks"
• David Haller also known as Legion, character in Marvel Universe
• David Rain character in book series "The Last Dragon Chronicles," by Chris D'Lacey
• David Dunn character in "Unbreakable"
• David Drayton character in "The Mist"
• David character in "Alien" series
• David Anderson character in the "Mass Effect" trilogy
• David Gregory Phillips character on TV's "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"
• David Hodges character on TV's "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"
• David main character in the Rooster Teeth animated series "Camp Camp"
• David character in the "Underworld" series
• David Healy character on TV's "Roseanne"
• David Wallace character from the US TV series "The Office"
• David Levinson character in the 1996 film "Independence Day" aka ID4
• David Prentiss character in Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness.
• David Martinez main character of anime "Cyberpunk: Edgerunners"

International Variations of the name David

• Davi Israeli
• Taavi Finnish
• Dáivi Irish
• Daved Scandinavian
• Dai Welsh
• Dàibhidh Scottish
• Daoud Arabic
• Devi Breton
• Daffydd Welsh
• Daven Scandinavian
• Dewi Welsh
• Dabid Basque
• Tevel Yiddish
• Davide French
• Dawid Polish