Dave

← Back to The Colonial Americas

Boy · English short form of a Hebrew name

Dave

Say it: DAYV

Try it with your surname

Meaning

A short form of David, from Hebrew Dawid, usually explained as 'beloved'.

Likelythe main view, with some doubt.

Beloved

Given as a full name in the US from the 1880s.

Its wave through time

Fading since the 1950s

In the United States

00.511.5218801900192019401960198020002020Peak 1959per 1,000 babies of that sex
  • 64,177 babies given this name since 1880
  • At its height in 1959, about 1 in 644 boys
  • 72 babies in 2020

Through the ages

  1. Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
  2. The Modern Age1880 to today

Used by

AmericanEnglish

Names worth a look

Where this comes from

  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
  • National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.