David

Where David comes from

From Middle English David, Davyd, Davyde, from Old English Dauid, David, from Late Latin Dāvīd, from Koine Greek Δαυῑ̈́δ (Dauī̈́d), from Biblical Hebrew דָּוִד (dāwiḏ, literally “beloved”).
— Wiktionary's entry for David
  • Hebrew
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1711
    David Hume born
    Scottish philosopher, economist, and historian
  2. 1862
    David Hilbert born
    German mathematician
  3. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #18 among boys — 869 babies in the first year on record.
  4. 1960
    Peak, #1
    85,929 babies named David — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1973
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #5.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Hebrew.
  • A female given name, often combined with a feminine middle name (e.g. David Ann).
Namesakes
  • David Hilbert · German mathematician, 1862–1943
  • David Hume · Scottish philosopher, economist, and historian, 1711–1776
  • David Bowie · English musician and actor, 1947–2016
  • David Ben-Gurion · Israeli politician, Zionist leader, prime minister of Israel (1948–1953, 1955–1963) -, 1886–1973
  • David Lloyd George · Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922, 1863–1945

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.