(male) Biblical name (meaning ‘God is my judge’ in Hebrew), borne by the prophet whose story is told in the Book of Daniel. He was an Israelite slave of the Assyrian king Nebuchadnezzar, who obtained great favour through his skill in interpreting dreams and the ‘writing on the wall’ at the feast held by Nebuchadnezzar's son Belshazzar. His enemies managed to get him cast into a lions' den, but he was saved by God. This was a favourite tale in the Middle Ages, often represented in miracle plays. The name has been perennially popular among English speakers since the 16th century and has been particularly favoured since the 1980s.
Variant: Danyal.
Short form: Dan.
Pet form: Danny.
Cognates: Scottish Gaelic: Dàniel. Welsh: Deiniol. German, Scandinavian: Daniel. Dutch: Daniël. French, Spanish, Portuguese: Daniel. Italian: Daniele. Russian: Daniil. Polish, Czech: Daniel. Finnish: Taneli. Hungarian: Dániel.
1. English: from Middle English more ‘moor’, ‘marsh’, ‘fen’, ‘area of uncultivated land’ (Old English mōr), hence a topographic name for someone who lived in such a place or a habitational name from any of the various places named with this word, as for example Moore in Cheshire or More in Shropshire.
2. English: from Old French more ‘Moor’ (Latin maurus). The Latin term denoted a native of northwestern Africa, but in medieval England the word came to be used informally as a nickname for any swarthy or dark-skinned person.
3. English: from a personal name (Latin Maurus ‘Moor’). This name was borne by various early Christian saints. The personal name was introduced to England by the Normans, but it was never as popular in England as it was on the Continent.
4. Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Mórdha ‘descendant of Mórdha’, a byname meaning ‘great’, ‘proud’, or ‘stately’.
5. Scottish: see Muir.
6. Welsh: from Welsh mawr ‘big’, applied as a nickname or distinguishing epithet.
Some content provided by Oxford University Press, Inc.
Copyright © 2009 Oxford University Press. Oxford University Press, Inc. does not make any
representation or warranty as to, or accept responsibility for the accuracy, currency, or
completeness of the content of the information supplied and users should seek independent
verification of the facts described therein.
![[Image: Color-coded map of the United States showing name distribution by state.]](/map/Daniel.Moore.US.gif)
