David Sheldon

(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.

English: habitational name from any of the various places so called. The main source is probably the one in Derbyshire, recorded in Domesday Book as Scelhadun, formed by the addition of the Old English distinguishing term scylf ‘shelf’ to the place name Haddon (from Old English hǣð ‘heath(er)’ + dūn ‘hill’). There are also places called Sheldon in Devon (from Old English scylf ‘shelf’ + denu ‘valley’) and Birmingham (from Old English scylf + dūn ‘hill’).