(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 and French: from the Middle English, Old French personal name Salmon, Saumon, a reduced form of Salomon (see Solomon).
Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish male personal name Zalmen, derived via a German form from Hebrew Shelomo (see Solomon).
Irish: part translation of Gaelic Ó Bradáin‘descendant of Bradán’, a personal name, probably from bradach ‘spirited’, but written the same as a word meaning ‘salmon’; this name is also sometimes translated Fisher. The English surname is also present in Ireland (chiefly in counties Leix and Kilkenny).