(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.
French: from the Latin personal name Ionis, which also occurs as an element of place names. The personal name was popularized by a 3rd-century Athenian saint who evangelized Châtres (present-day Arpajon), where he was martyred. As an American family name, it is probably of Huguenot origin.
Korean (Yŏn): there are three Chinese characters for the surname Yŏn, only one of which occurs frequently enough to be treated here. Some sources indicate that there are thirty Yŏn clans, but they all seem to be descended from the Hapsan Yŏn clan, whose founding ancestor, Yŏn Su–ch’ang, migrated to the Koryŏ kingdom after escorting a princess to the Koryŏ court. The king (probably King Ch’ungyŏl (1274–1308)) gave him some land in the Hapsan area, and so began the Hapsan Yŏn clan. The surname can be found throughout the peninsula, but it is most common in Ch’ungch’ŏng North province.
