(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.
Southern English: topographic name for someone who lived by a stream, an agent derivative of Well.
North German: variant of Welle, cognate with 1.
German: from an agent derivative of Middle High German wëllen ‘to roll, revolve, or smear’, hence an occupational name for someone who made wattle and daub walls.
German: from Middle High German wëllen ‘to cause to boil or simmer’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a smelter, cook, or the like.
German: from Middle High German wëlle ‘roll’, ‘bale’, hence a metonymic occupational name for someone who sold cloth or wool, for example.
