David Turk

(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.

1. English (mainly Gloucestershire), Dutch, and German (also Türk): from Middle English, Old French turc, Middle High and Low German Turc ‘Turk’, from Turkish türk. In theory this could be an ethnic name but, both in England and northwest Europe, it is generally a nickname for a person with black hair and a swarthy complexion or a cruel, rowdy, or unruly person. The Dutch and German surname also represents a house name, derived from the use of a picture of a Turk as a house sign. It is also found as a nickname for someone who had taken part in the wars against the Turks.