David

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Давид in RU Russia, UA Ukraine, Davi in BR Brazil, Dawid in PL Poland and דוד in IL Israel.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 3 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

David is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate given name1.3M records spelled David13 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, India, United Kingdom, Ecuador

  Also written Daṿid, Dávid, Davíd, Dàvid, Dạvid

• Swahili given name743K records spelled David20 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Kenya, United States, Nigeria, Tanzania

  Languages: Swahili, Southern Sotho, English

  Also written Daudi, Dávid, Dàvid, Dävïd, Daṿid

• a separate given name136K records spelled David35 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Norway

  Also written D̶a̶v̶i̶d̶, Dãvïd, Dävïd, Dâvìd, Dåvīd

• Greek given name78K records spelled David22 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Greece, United States, United Kingdom, Cyprus

  Also written Δαυιδ, Δαυίδ, Δαβίδ, Ntavint, Δαβιδ

• Hindi given name30K records spelled David24 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, United States, United Kingdom, Bangladesh

  Languages: Hindi, Bangla, Assamese

  Also written Devid, Dayud, ডেভিড, দায়ুদ, Daveed

157 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

David is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• Name of Hebraic origin, in the “Tabelle Baden 1809” List. David was changed for Tewel or Tewele since 1722 in Palati- nate.

  as a name·The Origin of Jewish Family Names: Morphology and History

• In English, Hebrew name of uncertain meaning; used in Ireland as equivalent of Daithi and in Wales of Dewi; borne by St David of Menevia.

  as a name·Irish first names

• In English, Hebrew David 'darling, friend'; first attested Dauid clericus 1150–60 DC (L).

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• In German, from the biblical given name David, Hebrew dāwīd 'beloved'.

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

• In German, biblical given name, source for patronymic Dawison.

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Caspar David Friedrichb. 1774SEGerman Romantic landscape painter (1774–1840)
• Henry David Thoreaub. 1817USAmerican essayist, poet, and philosopher (1817–1862)
• David Rockefellerb. 1915USAmerican banker and philanthropist (1915–2017)
• Kenneth Kaundab. 1924ZMnot in their usual nameFirst president of Zambia (1924–2021)
• David Juliusb. 1955USAmerican physiologist and Nobel laureate 2021
• David Woodardb. 1964USAmerican conductor and writer
• Dave Grohlb. 1969USnot in their usual nameAmerican rock musician
• David Jamesb. 1970GBEnglish association football player
• David Beckhamb. 1975GBEnglish footballer (born 1975)
• Jon Moxleyb. 1985USnot in their usual nameAmerican professional wrestler and actor

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 2,763 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name David?

We estimate roughly 5.1 million people bear David (counting its spellings and scripts) across 10 countries in our records.

In which country does David have the most bearers?

David is most frequently recorded in the United Kingdom, where it is most often spelled david.

How common is David compared with other names?

In the United Kingdom, David is the 2nd most common given name of 369,273 given names recorded there.

Is David a male or female name?

David is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name David mean?

Recorded meaning: A timeless classic of Hebrew origin meaning 'beloved', representing strength, leadership, and musicality.