(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.
Short form: Dave.
Pet forms: Davy, Davey, Davie (mainly Scottish); Dai.
Cognates: Irish: Dáibhídh. Scottish Gaelic: Dàibhidh. Welsh: Dafydd, Dewi. German, Dutch: David. French: David. Spanish: David. Italian: Davide. Russian: David. Polish: Dawid. Czech: David. Finnish: Taavi. Hungarian: Dávid.
Muslim: abstracted as a surname from Arabic ben ‘son of’, as in Bensoussan. This is quite commonly used as a surname among Muslims living in France.
Italian (also Del Ben): from a dialect form of bene ‘well’. This form, without the preposition, is found only in Belluno province, in particular in Taibon Agordino.
Indian (Gujarat): from Gujarati ben ‘sister’, from Sanskrit bhaginī, a title often attached to their given name by Gujarati women. It is not a true family name, but is sometimes used as a last name by women who do not have a surname.