A male name. Hebrew ‘beloved’. One of the first bearers of this name in Britain was David or Dewi, Archbishop of Menevia (d. 601), later canonized and the patron saint of Wales. From his time the name has been a favourite one in Wales. In Scotland it wa3 the name of two kings, David I 1084-153, and David II 1324-71, and has also always been common. In England it is not found before the Norman Conquest, but was common in the 12th C and has been used ever since, though never a favourite name. The surnames David, Davidson, Davy, Davis, Davies, Davison, Davitt, Davidge, Daw, Dawes, Dawson, and Dawkins are derived from David and its pet-forms Davy, Davit, and Daw, while McTavish is the Gaelic patronymic.

David Interpres Domesday Book 1086. David Curia Regis Rolls 1196-1220, Feudal Aids 1285, Poll Tax of West Riding of Yorkshire 1379 1379. Davy The Coventry Leet Book 1471, 1494. Davit Hundred Rolls 1273. Daue Poll Tax of West Riding of Yorkshire 1379 1379.

‘“The man after God’s own heart” was well named from the (Heb. ) verb to love, David, still called Daood in the East. It was Δαυιδ in the Septuagint; Δαυίδ and Δαυείδ in the New Testament; and the Vulgate (’s Davidus) made it the name well known to us... The Eastern Church... seems to have adopted David... long before it was revived among the Jews’; like John, it strikes very few people as being Hebraic. Early in C6, a princely Welshman, Dawfydd (i. e. David), lived so holy a life that his bishopric became known as St. David’s, ‘the principal Welsh see having been there transplanted in his time’: it was he who came to be ‘the Patron Saint of Wales and perhaps the most illustrious of the ancient British Bishops’, and his day is March the 1st. (Whence Taffy and Tafiine.) The name spread to Scotland, to Ireland, where it was often treated as though it were synonymous for Dathi and Diarmaid, and to England. (Yonge; Benedictines.)

The Scripture name, in Hebrew דויד, Davíydh, signifying beloved (dilectus).

Hebrew (masculine) - Beloved.

Day'-vid, beloved, dear. The son of Jesse, of the tribe of Judah, and town of Bethlehem. He was born, according to Usher, A. M. 2919. He was the most celebrated king of Israel. His history is recorded in the books of Samuel.

Meaning: beloved.

A Hebrew name, meaning: Beloved.

A Gaelic name: Daibhidh (Classical), Dàidh; hence Clann Dàidh or the Davidsons, a branch of the Clan Chattan. In C.S., Davidson appears as Déibhiosdan.