David
Top 1000
About David
David is an enduring worldwide classic, used from ancient times to the present day.
David is derived from the Hebrew name Dawid, believed to come from the root dôwd, meaning "beloved". The first famous David was the Old Testament second king of Israel: the shepherd boy who killed the giant Goliath, and later a warrior, poet, and powerful leader, wise but humanly fallible. He is an important figure in Judaism, Islam and Christianity, and later inspired many works of art, including Michelangelo’s colossal sculpture.
Since then, there have been countless Davids of note in history, literature, and popular culture, including the patron saint of Wales — a translation of the Welsh name Dewi — two kings of Scotland. Then there’s Copperfield, Crockett, Bowie, Beckham, Letterman, Grohl, and many more. Celebrities who have chosen it for their sons include Jennifer Hudson, Bar Refaeli, and J.K. Rowling.
In its international forms, David is steadily popular around the world, and ranks in the Top 10 names in Brazil, Austria, Armenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Israel.
In the USA, David has never been out of the Top 40 boy names, but was at peak popularity in the mid-twentieth century, ranking in the Top 10 from 1936-1992. This means that, although it’s still given to thousands of boys each year, it has an "older man" feel to it. It ranks highest in states with a large Jewish population, and is still a Top 10 name in New York.
After Daniel, David is the second most popular boy name starting with D. Although fading a little in popularity, it remains a serious-yet-friendly classic with deep roots.
If you’re looking to update David, perhaps as an honor name, the freshest alternatives are surnames deriving from David, including Dawes, Dawson, and Davies. You could also try an international variation, like Welsh Dai or Finnish Taavi.
Pronounced DAY-vid.
As of October 2026, David ranked #35 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #1 in 1960, Nameberry popularity #78.
Editor's take: The name David is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "beloved".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #17 | 12,253 | 6,378.9 |
| 2015 | #18 | 11,836 | 6,175.1 |
| 2016 | #19 | 11,148 | 5,874.4 |
| 2017 | #22 | 10,241 | 5,532.8 |
| 2018 | #22 | 9,811 | 5,402.1 |
| 2019 | #27 | 8,984 | 5,007.2 |
| 2020 | #28 | 8,259 | 4,784.8 |
| 2021 | #30 | 7,925 | 4,529.9 |
| 2022 | #31 | 7,820 | 4,478.8 |
| 2023 | #27 | 7,413 | 4,333.6 |
| 2024 | #31 | 7,317 | 4,246.9 |
| 2025 | #35 | 6,794 | 3,977.6 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like David.
- Joseph
- Christopher
- Daniel
- Michael
- Adam
- Andrew
- Matthew
- Nicholas
- John
- Anthony
- Timothy
- Jonathan
- Joshua
- Robert
- Stephen
- Patrick
- Mark
- Samuel
- Christian
- Thomas
David on lists
Famous Davids
- David
2nd King of Israel
- David "Davy" Crockett
American frontiersman and politician
- David Laʻamea Kahalepouli Kinoiki Kawānanakoa
Prince of Hawaiʻi
- David Lloyd George
1st Earl Lloyd,George of Dwyfor, British Prime Minister
- David Hume
Scottish Philosopher
- David Frederick Attenborough
English naturalist and broadcaster
- David Randolph Scott
American astronaut
- David Howell Petraeus
American former CIA director
- David William Donald Cameron
FORMER British Prime Minister
- David Bowie (born David Robert Jones)
English musician
- David Robert Joseph Beckham
English footballer
- David Keith Lynch
American director
- David Michael Hasselhoff
American actor and singer
- David Arquette
American actor
- David Julian Dobrik
Slovak YouTuber
- David Byrne
American musician of "Talking Heads"
- David Michael Letterman
American television host
- David Alasdair Boudia
American diver
- David Thomas "Davy" Jones
English singer of The Monkees
- David John "Dave" Franco
American actor
- David Michael "Dave" Mirra
American professional BMX rider
- David Eric "Dave" Grohl
American musician of the Foo Fighters
- David John "Dave" Matthews
American musician
- David Warren "Dave" Brubeck
American jazz pianist
- Robert David "Dave" Grusin
American film composer
- David Khari Webber "Dave" Chappelle
American comedian
- David Allen "Dave" Meltzer
American sports journalist
- David Scott "Dave" Mustaine
lead guitarist for American band Metallica
- David "Dave" Fleischer
American animator
- David Victor "Dave" Sim
Canadian cartoonist
- David "Dave" Sexton
English footballer
- David Allan "Dave" Righetti
American baseball player and coach
- David Mark "Dave" Winfield
American baseball player
- David "Dave" Nizam Baksh
Canadian guitarist of Sum 41 and Brown Brigade
- David "Dave" Rodman Annable
American actor
- David "Dave" Gardner
British sports agent
- David William Duchovny
American actor
- David Hyde Pierce
American actor
- David Tennant (born David John McDonald)
Scottish actor
- David Clayton Henrie
American actor
- David Albert Mazouz
American child actor
- David Abraham Adler
American children's author
- David Berman
American actor and researcher
- David Cloud Berman
American musician of band The Silver Jews
- David Boreanaz
American actor
- John Arthur "David" Carradine
American actor
- David Roland Cook
American musician
- David Eigenberg
American actor
- David Howell Evans aka The Edge
Irish musician of U2
- David Jon Gilmour
English musician of Pink Floyd
- David Wright Miliband
British Politician
- David James Stuart Mitchell
English actor and comedian
- David Mark Morrissey
English actor
- David Alan Robertson
American baseball pitcher
- David Allen Wright
American baseball player
- David Lawrence Schwimmer
American actor
- David Wayne Spade
American actor and comedian
- David Courtney Suchet
English actor
- David Krejci
Czech ice Hockey player
- David "Dave" Shelton
American rapper of the group "Another Bad Creation"
- David Scott "Dave" Foley
Canadian actor
- David Bruce Cassidy
American actor/singer
- David Richard Freese
American baseball player
- David Hilbert
German mathematician
- David Joseph Bohm
American theoretical physicist
- David Jonathan Gross
American particle physicist, string theorist and Nobel prize winner
- David Bagrationi
Prince Regent of Georgia
- David Russell Strathairn
American actor
- David James "Dave" Gorman
English comedian
- David Wallace Crowder
American Christian Musician
- David Gulpilil (Ridjimiraril Dalaithngu)
Aboriginal Australian actor
- David Lambert
American actor
- David Lauren
son of American fashion designer Ralph Lauren
- David Spencer aka iBallisticSquid
English YouTuber
- David Nagle aka Daithi De Nogla
Irish YouTuber
- David Ramsey
American actor
- David Portner aka Avey Tare
American musician of Animal Collective
- David Michael "Dave" Bautista
American actor and pro wrestler
- David Philippe Desrosiers
French Canadian bass player of Simple Plan
- David Miscavige
leader of the Church of Scientology
- David Kaufman
American voice actor
- David Daniel Otunga Jr. (b. 2009)
son of American singer and actress Jennifer Hudson
- David Lee Roth
American lead singer for the band Van Halen
- David Jarre
French magician and musician, son of composer Jean,Michel Jarre and actress Charlotte Rampling
- David Harbour
American actor
- David McGoldrick
Irish professional footballer
- David Green
British film director, TV producer, and media executive
- David Michael Burtka
American Actor and Chef; married to American actor Neil Patrick Harris
- David James Furnish
Candian Filmmaker; married to British singer and songwriter Sir Elton John
- David Goffin
Belgian tennis player
- David Ferrer Ern
Spanish tennis player
- David Rosen
(b. 1930) American businessman co,founder of the Japanese video game company Sega
- David Ezra (b. 2020)
son of Bar Refaeli and Adi Ezra.
- David Andrew Burd
American rapper and comedian, better known by his stage name Lil Dicky
David in pop culture
- David Tanaka
doctor on Australian soap "Neighbours"
- City of David
another name for Jerusalem
- David Gamut
character in "Last of the Mohicans," by James Fenimore Cooper
- Dr. David Marrow
character in "Haunting of Hill House"
- "David Copperfield
" novel by Charles Dickens
- Dr. David "Mr. Bone" Huxley
character in "Bringing Up Baby"
- David
robotic boy in the movie "AI"
- David
character in "The Uglies" series
- David Nolan/Prince Charming
character on the TV's "Once Upon a Time"
- David Rossi
character on "Criminal Minds"
- David Camden
one of the twins on TV's "Seventh Heaven"
- David Brent
from the UK TV series "The Office"
- David McCall
villian in the movie "Fear"
- David Shayne
character in movie "Bullets over Broadway"
- David Stenfaeldt
character from The dung,beetle flies at dusk, by Maria Gripe
- David Fletcher
"One Tree Hill"
- David Charleston
main character in The Reckoners Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson
- David Singh
character in DC Universe
- David "Dave" Stutler
main character in the movie "The Sorcerer's Apprentice"
- David "Dave" Seville
main character in the movie "Alvin and the Chipmunks"
- David Haller
also known as Legion, character in Marvel Universe
- David Rain
character in book series "The Last Dragon Chronicles," by Chris D'Lacey
- David Dunn
character in "Unbreakable"
- David Drayton
character in "The Mist"
- David
character in "Alien" series
- David Anderson
character in the "Mass Effect" trilogy
- David Gregory Phillips
character on TV's "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"
- David Hodges
character on TV's "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"
- David
main character in the Rooster Teeth animated series "Camp Camp"
- David
character in the "Underworld" series
- David Healy
character on TV's "Roseanne"
- David Wallace
character from the US TV series "The Office"
- David Levinson
character in the 1996 film "Independence Day" aka ID4
- David Prentiss
character in Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness.
- David Martinez
main character of anime "Cyberpunk: Edgerunners"