Gender: Masculine
Origin: Hebrew
Meaning: “beloved.”
The name is derived from the Hebrew דָּוִד (Dawid), which is derived from the Hebrew word דוד (dwd) meaning “beloved.”
The name is borne in the Old Testament by King David, he is considered to be the greatest Jewish king in history, he is famous for defeating the evil Philistine, Goliath and several other endeavors mentioned in the Bible. He also plays a part in the Qu’ran and in Christian tradition, is considered an ancestor of Jesus.
In the English speaking world, the name has been in usage since the Middle Ages, it was borne by two Scottish Kings and St. Dewi (known as St. David in English) is considered the patron saint of Wales.
In the United States, the name currently ranks in as the 14th most popular male name, actually, David has been in the U.S. top 20 since 1880, and he peaked in 1960, coming in at # 1. In other countries, his popularity is as follows:
- # 2 Davit (Armenia, 2008)
- # 74 (Australia, 2007)
- # 6 (Austria, 2008)
- # 7 (Catalonia, Spain, 2008)
- # 87 (Belgium, 2006)
- # 53 (Canada, B.C. 2008)
- # 31 (Chile, 2006)
- # 64 (England/Wales, 2008)
- # 1 (Faroe Islands, 2008)
- # 96 (France, 2006)
- # 6 (Hungary, 2008)
- # 16 (Ireland, 2007)
- # 4 (Israel, among Jewish boys, 2008)
- # 9 Davide (Italy, 2007)
- # 1 (Liechtenstein)
- # 4 Dovydas (Lithuanian)
- # 41 (the Netherlands, 2008)
- # 51 (Norway, 2007)
- # 8 Dawid (Poland, 2008)
- # 4 (Romania, 2008)
- # 27 (Scotland, 2008)
- # 9 (Slovenia, 2005)
- # 4 (Spain, 2008)
- # 40 (Sweden 2007)
- # 4 (Switzerland, among German-speakers, 2008)
- # 6 (Switzerland, among French-speakers, 2008)
- # 5 Davide (Switzerland, among Italian-speakers, 2008)
The David form is used in Albanian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, French, Galician, German, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish and Swedish.
Other forms of the name are:
- Davidi (Albanian)
- Da’ud/Da’oud/Da’wud/Da’wood داؤود (Arabic)
- Davit Դավիթ (Armenian)
- Davud (Azeri)
- Davud/Daud/Daut (Bosnian)
- Daveth (Cornish)
- Taavet/Taave/Taavi/Taavo/Tavo (Estonian)
- Daavid (Finnish)
- Taavetti/Taavi (Finnish)
- Dáibhead/Dáibheid/Daithí/Davy (Gaelic/Irish)
- Dawit/Dato დავით (Georgian)
- David Δαβίδ (Greek)
- Dávid (Hungarian/Faroese/Slovak)
- Davíð (Icelandic)
- Daud (Indonesian)
- Davide (Italian: Davidino and Daviduccio are obscure diminutive forms that were occasionally used as independent given names)
- Daudi (Kiswahili)
- Dawid (Kurdish)
- Dāvids/Dāvis (Latvian)
- Dovydas (Lithuanian)
- Davidu Давідъ(Old Church Slavonic)
- Davud داوود (Persian)
- Dawid (Polish: DAH-veed)
- David Давид (Russian/Belarusian)
- Davíd (Spanish)
- Dàibheid/Dàibhidh/Daividh (Scottish)
- Davud/Dâvud (Turkish)
- Davyd (Ukrainian)
- Dai (Welsh: a Welsh diminutive form of David, occasionally used as an independent given name)
- Dafydd/Dewi (Welsh)
- Dewydd (Welsh: archaic)
- Dovid (Yiddish)
- Dudel (Yiddish)
- Tavel (Yiddish)
Feminine forms are:
- Davida (English/Scottish)
- Davina/Davinia (English/Scottish)
Designated name-days are December 29 and December 30.
Gender: Masculine
Gender: Masculine
Gender: Masculine
Gender: Masculine
Origin: Latin
Gender: Feminine
Origin: Latin
Her feast day in Sweden is an especially popular celebration. Each year a girl is chosen to represent the saint, while leading a procession of singing white clad men and women. In older traditions, it was usually the oldest girl in the household who was picked, but since becoming a school or city festival, the title is either given to the prettiest girl or the most popular girl, sometimes done by popular demand of the populace, or school, in which the procession is held. The Sankta Lucia wears a wreath of lit candles upon her head and a red sash around her waist, afterwards, glög and lussekatte, (a type of Saffron biscuit),are served. Its popularity in Scandinavia may be due to some ancient pre-Christian roots, in which the early Germanic tribes would fend off the dark wintery nights with a procession of candles, its true origins have been somewhat lost to history, but there is a Scandinavian legend that claims that Saint Lucy appeared to a band of lost vikings, and lead them back safely to shore. Thereafter, Lucy became a popular saint among the Scandinavians.
Its feminine form of Judith, Hebrew יְהוּדִית Yehudit, was borne in the Old Testament by a wife of Esau, but is probably most closely associated with the protagonist found in the Book of Judith, which is a deuterocanonical book, included in the Septuagint and in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christian Old Testament of the Bible. The book is rejected by Protestant Christians and Jews since it is mostly apocryphal and believed to be more of a morality tale versus anything based on historical fact, however, though the book is not considered historically accurate by Jews, Judith remained a popular Jewish heroine and symbol. In fact, the name’s popularity among Jews is probably more in association with her than of the wife of Esau. Judith is known for her beheading of the evil, Assyrian invader, Holofernes. She was a popular subject of artists for centuries.