Boy · #30 in 2026

David

Name: Popularity of the name David in U.S. births, 1880–2026
Creator: U.S. Social Security Administration
License: https://www.ssa.gov/foia/
Keywords: David, baby name, popularity, U.S., SSA, rankings

David is a common masculine given name of Hebrew origin. Its popularity derives from the initial oral tradition and recorded use related to King David, a central figure in the Tanakh, and foundational to Judaism, and subsequently significant in the religious traditions of Christianity and Islam.

English
Hebrew
French
Scottish

Current Rank

#30

Peak Rank

#1 (1955)

Total Babies

3.7M

5-Yr Trend

-18%

1883

First Year

2024

Last Year

1983

Peak Year

#567

Peak Rank

13K

Total Count

128

Years Active

Meaning & Origin of David

What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →

Cultural Origins (via Behind the Name)

English
Hebrew
French
Scottish
Welsh
Spanish
Portuguese
Catalan
German
Swedish
Norwegian
Danish
Dutch
Czech
Slovene
Russian
Croatian
Serbian
Macedonian
Romanian
Biblical
Biblical Latin
Hungarian
Slovak

Etymology

David ( Hebrew : דָּוִד , Modern : David , Tiberian : Dāwîḏ ) means ' beloved ' , derived from the root dôwd ( דּוֹד ), which originally meant ' to boil ' , but survives in Biblical Hebrew only in the figurative usage ' to love ' ; specifically, it is a term for an uncle or figuratively, a lover/beloved (it is used in this way in the Song of Songs 6:3 (Shir HaShirim), Ani L'Dodi V'Dodi Li, אני לדודי ודודי לי , ' I am for my beloved and my beloved is for me ' ) as written by King Solomon. In Christian tradition, the name was adopted as Syriac : ܕܘܝܕ Dawid , Greek Δαυίδ , Latin Davidus or David

The Story of David

David first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby boy name in 1880, with 869 babies given the name that year. Its peak popularity came in 1955, when 86,301 Davids were born — ranking #2 that year. As of 2026, David ranks #30 for baby boys with 7,093 births, falling sharply (-18%). In total, more than 3.7M Davids have been born in the U.S. since records began in 1880, spanning the 1880s through the 2020s.

Popularity Over Time

Popularity by State

Top 10

11-50

51-100

101-500

500+

No data

Variants & Related Forms of David

Foreign forms, alternate spellings, and nicknames that share roots with David. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.

Dafydd
Dai
Dàibhidh
Dave
Davey
Davi
Davie
Davy

Where is David most common?

Predicted country distribution based on naming patterns globally.

Nigeria
31%
China
20%
Israel
17%
Philippines
16%
UG
16%

Source: Nationalize.io . Probabilities are global naming-pattern estimates, not strict counts.

Names that sound like David

Phonetically similar names — useful when David is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.

Divid
Davit
Divide
Devoid
Davids
Devitt
Dovid
Davitt
Daveed
Divvied
Divad
Duvet

Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.

Frequently Asked Questions about David

What does the name David mean?

What is the origin of the name David?

David has roots in the following cultural and linguistic traditions: English, Hebrew, French, Scottish, Welsh, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Czech, Slovene, Russian, Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian, Romanian, Biblical, Biblical Latin, Hungarian, Slovak.

How popular is David in 2026?

In 2026, David ranks #30 among boys' names in the U.S., with 7,093 babies given the name that year.

When was David most popular?

David reached its peak popularity in 1955, ranking #1 that year with 86,301 babies given the name.

In which U.S. states is David most popular?

David has historically been most popular in Alaska, Arizona, California. Rankings vary year to year, but these states show the strongest concentration of births named David.

Is David a unisex name?

In U.S. Social Security records, David is primarily a boy's name. We don't have meaningful data for it as a girl's name.

What names go well with David?

Names that share a similar style or popularity range with David include John, James, Robert. These pairings are based on rank proximity and naming era in U.S. data.

What are nicknames or variants of David?

Common variants and related forms of David include Dafydd, Dai, Dàibhidh, Dave, Davey, Davi. These cover foreign-language equivalents, alternate spellings, and short forms.

About the name David

David is a boy baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1880 and has accumulated 3.7M births in the dataset. David's peak popularity came in 1955 when it ranked #1. Use the chart and map above to compare David's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.

Continue exploring

Data sources

Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .

Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.