David Family History

Jewish, Welsh, Scottish, English, French, Breton, Portuguese, Czech, Croatian, and Slovenian; Hungarian (Dávid) and Slovak (mainly Dávid): from the Hebrew personal name David (in Hungarian and Slovak spelled Dávid) interpreted as ‘beloved’. The name has been perennially popular among Jews in honor of the Biblical king of this name. His prominence and the vivid narrative of his life contained in the First Book of Samuel led to adoption of the name among Christians in the Middle Ages in various parts of Europe.

In Britain, the popularity of this as a personal name was increased for two reasons. Firstly, by virtue of its being the name of the patron saint of Wales who was abbot-bishop in the 6th century at what became known as Saint David's in Pembrokeshire. There are numerous dedications and placenames honouring the saint in south Wales, and it is no coincidence that the modern surname is heavily concentrated there especially in Glamorgan.

Secondly, the name was borne by two kings of Scotland (David I reigning 1124–53 and David II 1329–71). Its popularity in Russia is largely due to the fact that this was the ecclesiastical name adopted by Saint Gleb (died 1015), one of two sons of Prince Vladimir of Kiev who were martyred for their Christian zeal.

In North America, the English form of the surname has absorbed cognates from some other languages, especially Assyrian/Chaldean Dawid and Arabic Daud (with variants such as Daoud and Dawood).