DAVID TAN

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.

Chinese 谭: from the name of the state of Tan during the Zhou dynasty. After Wu Wang established the Zhou dynasty in 1122 BC, he enfeoffed the state of Tan to a descendant of the model emperor Yu (2205–2198 BC), with the status of Viscount. Descendants adopted the name of the state Tan as their surname.