Given name & surname
Dave
“Beloved”·“darling”
In English use, Dave is a short form of David. “Beloved” or “darling” is a traditional interpretation. The original linguistic explanation is less certain than that familiar meaning may suggest.
Meaning & origin
What it means
In English use, Dave is a short form of David. “Beloved” or “darling” is a traditional interpretation. The original linguistic explanation is less certain than that familiar meaning may suggest.
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
In English use, Dave is a short form of David. David is a Hebrew biblical name, although its precise Hebrew derivation remains uncertain.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
In Cebuano usage, Dave is a diminutive of David. In English use, Dave is a short form of David. The shared background comes through David: One explanation connects David with a Hebrew nursery word meaning “darling.” This remains a proposed derivation rather than an established breakdown into separate elements.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. In English use, Dave is a short form of David. The history of David gives this family its wider story. The biblical David is remembered as the young challenger of Goliath and later king of Israel. In Britain, the patron saint of Wales and two medieval Scottish kings gave the name further local associations.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Dave through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 64,492
- 64,378 boys · 114 girls
- Most popular year
- 1959
- 3,308 babies
- 2025
- 55
- #2,456 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −9%
- Steady
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 55 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 2,456 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 8.8% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 3,308 in 1959. In 2025, Florida had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (13). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 67,929 as a first name in 2020; 5,994 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Dave’s family of names
In Cebuano usage, Dave is a diminutive of David. In English usage, Dave has a conventional equivalent in the Greek form Ντέιβ. Dave is a short form of David.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Dave has relatives in 7 languages.
5 related names in 7 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 14
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Daveyequivalent
- Davyequivalent
- Davideequivalent
- Daoudequivalent
- Dawidequivalent
- Dewiequivalent
- Davequivalent
- דאויסכאequivalent
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People named Dave
- Dave GrohlAmerican rock musicianborn 1969
- Dave BautistaAmerican actor and former professional wrestler (born 1969)
- Dave MustaineAmerican musicianborn 1961
- Dave BrubeckAmerican jazz pianist and composer (1920–2012)
- Dave ChappelleAmerican comedian and actor (born 1973)
- Dave FarrellAmerican bassistborn 1977
- Dave GahanEnglish singerborn 1962
- Dave BentonAruban-Estonian musician (born 1951)
- Dave EggersAmerican writer, editor, and publisherborn 1970
Characters named Dave: Dave Karofsky (the television series Glee), Dave Williams (fictional character), Dave Lister (Red Dwarf).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Dave, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Dow
“a dark-haired man”
>99% boys
Davidde
“Beloved” · “darling”
>99% boys
Davo
“Beloved” · “darling”
>99% boys
Daveun
“the beloved one”
>99% boys
Davydd
“Beloved” · “darling”
>99% boys
Jay
“resembling a jaybird” · “one who is victorious”
99% boys · 1% girls
Dawkin
“a spirited man” · “Beloved”
—
Paul
“small” · “a small or humble man”
>99% boys