(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.
Chinese 张: variant of Zhang 1.
Chinese 常: The emperor Huang Di (2697–2595 BC) had two advisers whose names contained this character; descendants of both of them are believed to have adopted Chang as their surname. Additionally, in the state of Wei during the Zhou dynasty (1122–221 BC) there existed a fief named Chang, the name of which was adopted by descendants of its ruling class. The Chinese character also has the meanings ‘often’ and ‘ordinary’.
Chinese 章: variant of Zhang 2.
Chinese 昌: a rare name whose Chinese character also means ‘prosperous, flourishing’. This name is said to have originated 4500 years ago with Chang Yi, son of the legendary emperor Huang Di and father of emperor Zhuan Xu.
Korean: there are 33 Chang clans in Korea, all but three of which use the same Chinese character for their surname. All of the Korean Chang clans had their origins in China, and, apart from the Tŏksu Chang clan and the Chŏlgang Chang clan, they all originated from a single founding ancestor, Chang Chŏn-p'il. He was born in China in 888 AD and fled to Korea with his father during a tumultuous period of Chinese history. The Tŏksu Chang clan's founding ancestor, Chang Sul-long, stayed in Korea, having escorted Koryŏ King Ch'ungyŏl's queen-to-be from China to Korea in 1275. Most of the founding ancestors of the other Chang clans arrived in Korea from Yŭan China during the Koryŏ period (AD 918– 1392) or during the early Chosŏn period.
