(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.
Scottish: nickname from Gaelic cam ‘crooked’, ‘bent’ + beul ‘mouth’. The surname was often represented in Latin documents as de bello campo ‘of the fair field’, which led to the name sometimes being ‘translated’ into Anglo-Norman French as Beauchamp.
In New England documents, Campbell sometimes occurs as a representation of the French name Hamel.
FOREBEARS The founder of the clan Campbell (and the bearer of the nickname) was Gillespie Ó Duibhne, who lived at the beginning of the 13th century. He married Eva Ó Duibhne, heiress of Lochow, and from them descended a long line of Lairds of Lochow and immensely powerful Scottish aristocrats, including the dukes of Argyll. For centuries they wielded enormous power in Scotland. As with many Highland Scottish clan names, the surname was adopted not merely by descendants but also retainers of the original clan founders. John Campbell (1653–1727/8), born in Scotland, was postmaster general of Boston and published the Boston News-Letter (1704–22), the first continuously published newspaper in America.
