Few boy names have stayed in steady use as long as David, or worn as many hats. It has belonged to a shepherd who became a king, a Welsh saint, a block of Florentine marble, and a rock star who swapped his surname so nobody would confuse him with a different Davy. It still looks completely ordinary on a kindergarten name tag.
The meaning is short and warm. David comes from the Hebrew root dod and means beloved, which puts it in the small group of ancient names built on affection rather than on a trade, a place, or a physical trait. Three thousand years later it is still in the US top 50, and it has never once dropped off the federal list.
Verdict: David is a safe classic with real history behind it for a baby born in 2026. It ranked 35th among American boys in the latest Social Security Administration count, with 6,794 births, a long way down from the 86,306 of its 1955 peak, so everybody can spell it and say it while your son is unlikely to share it with even one classmate.
David Overview
- Meaning: David means beloved, from the Hebrew dod, a word that also serves as the term for an uncle.
- Gender: David is a boy name and is used almost entirely for boys in the United States, with 7 girls given the name in 2025.
- Origin: Hebrew. It belongs to King David, the shepherd, poet, and second king of Israel, and it appears in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic scripture.
- Pronunciation: DAY-vid in English, dah-VEED in Hebrew, French, and Spanish.
- Popularity: David ranked 35th among US boys in 2025, the most recent Social Security Administration year, with 6,794 boys given the name. Half of all American Davids on record were born by 1963.
- Nicknames: Dave, Davy, Davie, Davo, and Dai.
- Variations: Dafydd, Dewi, Davide, Davi, Dawid, Dawud, Davit, Dawit, Dovid, Davina, and Davida.
- Namesakes: David Bowie, David Attenborough, David Beckham, and Dave Grohl.
What Does David Mean?
David means beloved. It comes from the Hebrew dawidh (דָּוִד), built on the root dod (דּוֹד), which the etymology dictionaries trace back to a sense of boiling that survives in Biblical Hebrew only in its figurative use, to love.
That same root is the ordinary Hebrew word for an uncle, and in the Song of Songs it is the word a woman uses for the man she loves. So the name sits somewhere between family affection and romantic devotion, which is why it is usually translated as beloved or darling rather than anything grander.
Two things follow from that. First, David is one of the very few names of its age that describes a feeling instead of a job, a place, or a body (compare Cooper, Lincoln, or Rufus). Second, the theological reading you sometimes see, beloved of God, is an interpretation layered on top of the biblical story, not a separate translation of the word itself.
Where Does the Name David Come From?
The name David is of Hebrew origin and has been in continuous use for roughly three thousand years, which puts it in a very small club.
Its staying power comes almost entirely from the biblical roots of King David. In the Hebrew Bible he starts out as the youngest son in a shepherding family, kills the Philistine champion Goliath, plays the lyre well enough to calm a troubled king, and ends up as the second king of Israel. Many of the Psalms are attributed to him.
That mix matters for the name. David is not remembered only as a warrior or only as a poet, so the name never got locked into one personality type. It reads as sturdy on a construction site and as literate in a lecture hall.
The name also crosses religious lines in a way few names do. It is central in Judaism, it entered Christian use very early, and the Quran names him Dawud as a prophet and king. Wales gave it a second home: Saint David, known in Welsh as Dewi Sant, founded monasteries in the 6th century and became the country’s patron saint, and his feast day on 1 March is still a national date. “Be joyful, keep the faith, and do the little things,” said Saint David in the sermon Welsh tradition records as his last, and the phrase is repeated across Wales every year on that date. Two more cultural anchors carry the name further. Michelangelo’s marble David, carved in Florence in the early 1500s, is probably the most recognized statue in the world, and the six-pointed Star of David takes its name from a legend about the shape of the king’s shield rather than from any biblical text.
How Popular is the Name David?
David is a genuine American classic rather than a trend that spiked and vanished. It has appeared in Social Security Administration data every year on file since 1880, and 3,676,654 American boys have been given the name across those 146 years (1). The SSA’s own century list puts David 6th among all boys’ names of the past 100 years (2).
The shape is a long hill rather than a spike. David climbed through the first half of the 20th century, crested in 1955, when 86,306 boys were given the name, and reached the top of the national list in 1960, the only year it has ever held first place. The 1950s were its biggest decade outright. Michael took the top spot back in 1961 and kept it for a generation, but David stayed in the top 10 for decades after that.
The slide since has been gentle. It was still a top-20 name as recently as the mid-2010s, and in 2025 it ranked 35th, with 6,794 boys named David, or about one boy in 251. Set the last ten years against the ten before them and the birth rate is down about 34 percent, according to the same SSA series, which is a slow fade rather than a collapse. For a parent in 2026 that lands close to the sweet spot: instantly recognized, never misspelled, and no longer everywhere.
The figure that tells you the most is the halfway mark. Half of every American David on record was born by 1963, so the typical David in this country is in his sixties. That is why the name still reads as a father’s or a grandfather’s, and it is also why it is wide open for a newborn: your son would be one of fewer than seven thousand a year, not one of eighty-six thousand.
Outside the United States the picture is different. David has in recent years been reported as the number one boy name in Israel, and Davi, the Portuguese form, sits near the top of the Brazilian charts, second only to Miguel in 2024 registrations (3). A name that is fading at home and leading somewhere else is unusual, and it is worth knowing if your family has ties to either country.
Is David a Boy or Girl Name?
David is a boy name, and the federal records are about as one-sided as they get. Girls do appear in them, 12,959 since 1880 and 7 in 2025, but that is about a third of one percent of everyone the SSA lists under the name. So David for a daughter is not unheard of, it is simply rare enough to read as a deliberate choice rather than a trend.
Parents who want the same root for a girl usually land on Davina, a Scottish feminine form that carries the beloved meaning intact. Davida is the older and rarer alternative, and Vida works as a softer short form of either, though it has a separate Spanish meaning of its own.
David also earns its keep as a middle name. It is one syllable short of formal, it starts and ends on consonants, and it does not compete with a longer or more decorative first name, which is why combinations like Jeremiah David and Sebastian David turn up so often.
How Do I Pronounce David?
In English the standard pronunciation is two syllables with the stress on the first:
DAY-vid
Stress placement is the thing to listen for, because it does not always land where English puts it:
- Hebrew: dah-VEED, with a clipped first syllable
- French: dah-VEED, with the final d pronounced
- Spanish: dah-VEED
- Italian (Davide): DAH-vee-deh, three syllables with the stress on the first
- Welsh (Dafydd): DAV-ith, with the th of “this”
Nobody is going to ask you how to spell it, which is a small mercy the parents of every Ayden, Aiden, and Aidan would trade a lot for.
Best Middle Names for David
David is a firm two-syllable anchor, so the middle name does most of the work in setting the tone. Longer, flowing middles soften it; short punchy ones make it sound more contemporary. Say the full name out loud with your surname before you commit, and check the initials while you are at it.
The Classic Gentleman Pairings
These lean regal and professional, and they age well on a resume.
The Modern Cool Pairings
Short, consonant-heavy middles that pull the traditional David toward the present.
The Soft and Vowel-Heavy Pairings
Vowel-led middles round off the hard D and V sounds and slow the whole name down.
Sibling Names for David
If David is already in the family, the sibling names that sit beside it comfortably tend to share three traits: an established history, an obvious spelling, and no year attached to them. A trendy invented name next to David will always sound like it came from a different decade.
For a Brother
Names that stand on equal footing, mostly biblical or old-guard English.
- Daniel (the most common pairing of all; same origin, same era, same two-syllable rhythm)
- Samuel (the prophet who anointed David, so the pair has a story behind it)
- Joseph
- John
- Jacob
- Luke
If you would rather match David’s decades than its scripture, the birth data points somewhere slightly different: Robert, Mark, and Paul rose and fell on almost the same schedule, and Robert is the only one of the three still inside the top 100 today.
For a Sister
Classic, widely recognized girl names with the same unhurried feel.
Variations of David
Because the name traveled with scripture, nearly every language that met it kept its own version. Any of these works as a way to honor a family David while giving your son something of his own:
- Dafydd (Welsh), the form behind Saint David, usually shortened to Dai or Dewi.
- Davide (Italian), three syllables, DAH-vee-deh.
- Davi (Portuguese), the short Brazilian form and currently one of the most used boy names in Brazil.
- Dawid (Polish), DAH-veet, a shorter first vowel than the English DAY-vid.
- Dawud or Da’ud (Arabic), the Quranic form of the prophet’s name.
- Davit (Georgian), the name of several Georgian kings.
- Dawit (Amharic), long established in Ethiopia.
- Dovid (Yiddish), the traditional Ashkenazi Jewish pronunciation.
- Dávid (Hungarian and Slovak), same letters, softer stress.
- Davina and Davida, the feminine forms.
Nicknames for David
David is short enough to survive intact, but a nickname is close to inevitable, so it helps to know which one you are inviting.
Common Nicknames:
- Dave: the default, and the reason some parents pick a different name entirely. Friendly, plain, faintly middle-aged.
- Davy or Davie: the childhood version, sweet on a toddler and usually retired by high school.
Rarer Nicknames:
- Dai: the traditional Welsh short form, pronounced to rhyme with “eye”.
- Dewi: also Welsh, and the form used for Saint David himself.
- Davo: common in Australia and the UK, casual and a bit blokey.
- Vid: an informal modern clipping taken from the back half of the name, rather than an established short form.
Names Similar to David
If what you like about David is the combination of biblical weight and everyday ease, these come closest:
- Caleb: another Hebrew name with a loyal, soldierly history, but it feels a generation younger than David.
- Ethan: the same firm, settled sound, except its big American run came in the 1990s and 2000s instead of the 1950s.
- Arthur: the closest match for the kingly association, drawn from British legend rather than scripture.
- Nathan: the prophet who confronted King David, and a name with the same soft-but-solid rhythm.
- Jesse: King David’s father, and a gentler, more country-leaning alternative.
- Adam: equally short, equally ancient, and just as unlikely to date.
- Isaac: the same biblical pedigree with friendlier vowels and a ready-made nickname in Ike.
- Benjamin: longer and more formal, but it lands in the same traditional territory and comes with Ben and Benji.
- Simon: quieter than David, with the same clean spelling and no nickname pressure.
Names That Moved With David
David did not rise and fall on its own. Comparing its birth rate year by year against every popular American boys’ name turns up a short list whose curves track David’s almost exactly. This is our own reading of public Social Security Administration data rather than a recommendation from anyone, and it answers a different question from a sound-alike list: these names shared David’s decades, so they are the ones you keep meeting if you are drawn to a mid-century classic or naming a brother to match. Six names came back; the three closest are the ones drawn on the chart.
- Robert: The closest companion at the top of the curve. It held the number one spot as far back as 1924, crested a generation before David did, in 1931, and has come down the same gentle slope ever since, which is why it is the only one of these six still inside the top 100, at 92nd in 2025.
- Richard: Reached 5th in 1930, climbed to its peak birth rate in 1946, and has been sliding for the entire period the chart covers. It now sits 234th, a steeper drop than David’s from a comparable height.
- Kenneth: Peaked in 1951, four years ahead of David, and repeats its post-war shape almost line for line. Its best showing was 13th in 1939, and it has fallen furthest of the three names charted here, to 294th in 2025.
- Mark: Peaked in 1960, the same year David reached the top of the list, and had hit 6th the year before that. It sits 245th in 2025. If you want the name that sat beside David in a 1960s classroom, this is it.
- Paul: The long-runner of the group. It was already 12th in 1916, peaked much later, in 1964, then followed the same downward line to 262nd in 2025.
- Brian: The late arrival, reaching 8th in 1970 and peaking in 1973, almost two decades after David. It is the lowest ranked of the six today, at 339th. Proof that sharing a curve does not mean sharing a landing.
Famous People Named David
The list of well-known Davids runs across music, sport, science, and comedy, which is the practical argument for a name this common: it has never pushed anyone into a lane.
- David Bowie: the British singer and actor born David Robert Jones, who took the surname Bowie in 1965 to avoid being confused with Davy Jones of the Monkees.
- David Attenborough: the broadcaster and natural historian whose voice has narrated wildlife film for more than half a century.
- David Beckham: the England football captain turned club owner and fashion figure.
- Dave Grohl: born David Eric Grohl, the drummer on Nirvana’s Nevermind and the frontman of the Foo Fighters.
- David Letterman: the American late-night host who ran Late Night and the Late Show for more than three decades.
- David Schwimmer: the actor and director best known as Ross Geller on Friends.
- David Hockney: the British painter known for the California pool pictures and among the most widely exhibited artists of his generation.
David in Pop Culture
Screenwriters reach for David when they want a character who reads as competent and grounded, then bend it from there:
- David Rose: the anxious, fashion-obsessed elder sibling in Schitt’s Creek.
- David Rossi: the veteran profiler and author in Criminal Minds.
- David Brent: the excruciating regional manager of the original British The Office.
- David Xanatos: the scheming billionaire of Gargoyles, whose name became shorthand among fans for a plan that wins either way.
- David Dunn: the reluctant, unbreakable security guard at the center of M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable.
