David Falcon

(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.

English: from Middle English, Old French faucon, falcun ‘falcon’, either a metonymic occupational name for a falconer, or a nickname for someone thought to resemble the falcon, which was regarded as a symbol of speed and courage in the Middle Ages. In a few cases, it may also have been a metonymic occupational name for a man who operated the piece of artillery named after the bird of prey. Compare Faulkner.