David (name)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
David is a common English name for males.
The name "David" (generally pronounced "DAY-vid" in modern English, but also pronounced "Dar-VEED" in other languanges, such as those similar to - or originating from - Latin) is derived from the Biblical Hebrew name דָּוִד (Standard Hebrew: Dávid; Tiberian Hebrew: Dāwiḏ), meaning "Beloved." The name occurs over 1000 times in the Hebrew Bible, making it the third most often-occurring name, after Moses and Abraham.
Name days are celebrated on March 1 (for St. David of Wales) and December 29 (for King David), as well as June 26, August 26, and December 11.
David is often shortened to "Davey/Davie/Davy (additionally, in Wales, such variants as "Dafydd" and "Dewi" and such diminutives as "Dai", "Daf" and "Taff/Taffy" are fairly common). The oldest, most popular and most commonly-used diminutive form of "David" worldwide is "Dave", which first appeared in written form in the sixteenth century (but is probably much older). "Dave" is preferred by many people born "David" to the full name because it is considered more "friendly" and "informal", and also disliked by many other "Davids" on the opinion that it is too "laddish" or "loutish".
Female equivalents of the name David include "Davida" (no longer in common usage) and "Davina", the latter of which is very poplar in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The girl's name "Davinia" may also have originated from David, though some have argued it is actually the female version of the Gaelic boy's name 'Devin'.
David also appears as a surname. For a list of people with this surname, see David (disambiguation).
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[edit] Translations in other languages
- Afrikaans: Dawid
- Arabic: داوود (dāwūd)
- Armenian: Davith/Daveth (Դավիթ)
- Breton: Dewi
- French: David
- Greek: Δαβίδ
- Hebrew: דוד
- Icelandic: Davíð
- Italian: Davide
- Irish Gaelic: Daithi
- Japanese: Daibbido
- Manx: Davy
- Polish: Dawid
- Scottish Gaelic: Dàibhidh / Daibhidh
- Slovak: Dávid m
- Spanish: Davíd
- Welsh: Dafydd
[edit] People bearing the name
[edit] Monarchs
- David, the Biblical King of Israel (c. 1011–971 BC)
- Emperors of Ethiopia
- David I or Dawit I of Ethiopia
- David II or Dawit II of Ethiopia
- David III or Dawit III of Ethiopia
[edit] Other monarchs
- David (Da'ud), an 11th-century CE ruler of the Seljuk Turks
- David of Taman, Khazar ruler of the late 900's CE
[edit] Saints
- Saint David, patron saint of Wales
- Saint David of Muscovy or Gleb, brother of saint Roman of Muscovy or Boris, and son of saint Vladimir
- Catholic martyrs of the Cristero War celebrated on May 25
- Saint David Uribe Velasco
- Saint David Roldán Lara
- Saint David Galván Bermúdez
[edit] Actors
- David Arquette
- Dave Batista, American professional wrestler
- David Carradine, American
- David Caruso, American
- David Chapelle, American comedian
- David Cross, American
- David DeLuise, American
- David Duchovny, American
- David Gasman, American, residing in Paris, France
- David Hasselhoff (b. 1952), American actor, singer, songwriter
- David Hewlett, English-born Canadian actor
- David Nykl, Czech-born Canadian actor
- David Ogden Stiers, American actor and musician
- David Palffy, Canadian actor
- David Spade, American
- David Wain, American
- David Tennant, Scot
- David Boreanaz, American
- David Wilson, British
[edit] Biologists
[edit] Government figures, politicians
- David Blunkett
- David Byrne (politician) (b. 1947), Irish and European official
- David Cameron, Conservative Party leader
- David, an alias of Joseph Stalin
[edit] Music artists
- David Usher (b. 1966), British rock singer-songwriter
- David Gray (musician) (b. 1968) British rock singer-songwriter
- David Coverdale (b. 1951) British hard rock vocalist
- David Bowie (b. 1947), British rock singer, songwriter, producer
- David Lee Roth (b. 1953), American rock singer-songwriter
- Dave Gilmour (b. 1946), British rock singer-songwriter
- Dave Matthews (b. 1967), South African-born singer, guitarist
- Dave Grohl (b. 1969), American drummer with Nirvana (band), then Foo Fighters
- David Byrne (musician) (b. 1952), musician and former Talking Heads frontman
- David Desrosiers, member of Simple Plan
- Dave Mustaine, member of Metallica and Megadeth
- David Ellefson,former member of Megadeth
- David & David, 1980's pop group consisting of two men named David.
[edit] Sports
- David Byrne (footballer) (born 1961), football player
- David Byrne (soccer), (born c.1961), South African soccer player and coach
- David Coulthard, a Formula One racer.
- David Wharton, American butterfly and medley swimmer
- David Ortiz, current baseball player for the Boston Red Sox
- David Bishop (Athlete), current British Junior Athlete
- David Ginola, former French footballer
- David Beckham, English footballer, plays for Real Madrid
- Dave Andreychuk, former Canadian hockey player
- David Wright, current baseball player for the New York Mets
[edit] Writers
- David Brooks, conservative American op-ed columnist for The New York Times
- David Frum, conservative Canadian-American political writer
- David Hume, Scottish philosopher
[edit] Others
- David of Sasun, an Armenian folk hero
- David Fincher, film director
- David Lynch, film director
- David Tench, an animated host of the Australian television talk show comedy David Tench Tonight.
- David Talbot, founder of Salon.com Internet magazine
[edit] Fictional Characters
- David, The Lost Boys (1987), a vampiric antagonist played by Keifer Sutherland
- David Copperfield, in the book of the same name by Charles Dickens
- David Talbot, The Vampire Chronicles, a book series by Anne Rice
- David is one of the Delightful Children From Down The Lane
