(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 (of Welsh origin): Anglicized form of Welsh ap Hywel ‘son of Hywel’, a personal name meaning ‘eminent’ (see Howell).
Irish: mainly of Welsh origin as in 1 above, but sometimes a surname adopted as equivalent of Gaelic Mac Giolla Phóil ‘son of the servant of St. Paul’ (see Guilfoyle).
FOREBEARS This surname is extremely common in Wales and has also spread throughout England and Ireland. The first recorded occurrence of the surname in its modern form is Roger ap Howell, alias Powell, named in a lawsuit in 1563. He was the grandson of Howell ap John (d. 1535). Snelling Powell, born in Carmarthen, Wales, in 1758, came to America in 1793 and was a successful actor and theater manager in Boston. Later members of the family include the novelist Anthony Powell (b. 1905).
