(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: patronymic from the Middle English personal name Wikke (see Wick 2).
English: variant of Wick 1.
It may also be an Americanization of Scandinavian Vik.
FOREBEARS This surname was brought to North America independently by several different bearers in the 17th and 18th centuries. One of the earliest on record is Leonard Weeks, who emigrated from Somerset, England, to Portsmouth, NH, some time before 1656.William Weeks, recorded in Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard, MA, from 1653 onward, was probably a cousin or other relative of the John Wickes mentioned at Wickes.