David Abe

(male) Biblical name, borne by the greatest of all the kings of Israel, whose history is recounted with great vividness in the first and second books of Samuel and elsewhere. As a boy he killed the giant Philistine Goliath with his slingshot. As king of Judah, and later of all Israel, he expanded the power of the Israelites and established the security of their kingdom. He was also noted as a poet, many of the Psalms being attributed to him. The Hebrew derivation of the name is uncertain; it is said by some to represent a nursery word meaning ‘darling’. It is a very popular Jewish name, but is almost equally common among Gentiles in the English-speaking world. It is particularly common in Wales and Scotland, having been borne by the patron saint of Wales (see Dewi) and by two medieval kings of Scotland.

Japanese: variously written, with Chinese characters used phonetically. Listed in the Shinsen shōjiroku, the Abe claim descent from Ōhiko, first son of the mythical Emperor Kōgen. There are several places in Japan named Abe, which means ‘sun festival’ in the Ainu language. Some Ainu connections may be assumed, but the name could also be purely habitational. It is found mostly in northeastern Japan, the island of Kyūshū, and the Ryūkyū Islands.