David

Meaning: Beloved
Origin: Hebrew

Nicknames: Dave, Davey, Davy, Dai, Davie

Boy's name · #35 in the US (2025) · Timeless

Popularity over time

David has held steady since 1880, standing at #35 in 2025. At one stretch it held the national top 10 for 57 consecutive years.

Across the states

See where David is more common.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 51 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Around the world

David is especially popular in Croatia and Czechia.

#4 in Croatia (2025) · #6 in Czechia (2025) · #11 in Austria (2025) · #13 in Finland (other-lang.) (2025) · #16 in Slovakia (2025, through 10 Dec 2025) · #17 in Mexico (2024) · #17 in Hungary (2025) · #24 in Slovenia (2025) · #25 in Spain (2024) · #25 in Estonia (2025) · #31 in Switzerland (2025) · #40 in Ecuador (2025) and 19 more.

Famous Davids

David Hilbert — German mathematician (1862–1943)
David Hume — Scottish philosopher, historian, economist and essayist (1711–1776)
David Cameron — Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 (born 1966)
David Beckham — English footballer (born 1975)
David Bowie — English musician and actor (1947–2016)
David Attenborough — English broadcaster and natural historian (born 1926)
David Lynch — American filmmaker (1946–2025)
David — Biblical figure and Israelite monarch (1039–969 BCE)
David Harbour — American actor (born 1975)
David Ben-Gurion — Prime Minister of Israel (1948–1953; 1955–1963) (1886–1973–1973)

In stories & tradition

David (Solid Snake) — Fictional character from the Metal Gear series
David Palmer — 24 (TV series)
Black Manta (David Hyde) — Aquaman (comic book)

What Davids become

Among 37,961 notable people named David:

Business leaders appear 1.36× more often than among typical names — e.g. David Rockefeller, American banker and philanthropist (1915–2017).

Twin names

A popular twin pairing with David is Daniel for a boy.

Spellings & nicknames

About 64 boys a year are given Dave as their full name.

Similar names: James · Daniel · Joseph · John · Matthew · Michael

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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