(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.
English: reduced form of Forster.
English: nickname from Middle English foster ‘foster parent’ (Old English fōstre, a derivative of fōstrian ‘to nourish or rear’).
Jewish: probably an Americanized form of one or more likesounding Jewish surnames, such as Forster.
FOREBEARS This name was brought to North America by many different bearers from the 17th century onward. Thomas Foster (1640–79) is buried in the old burial ground in Cambridge, MA. John Foster, born 1648 in Dorchester, MA, was the earliest wood engraver in America.