Meaning & History
Dauid is the Greek biblical form of the Hebrew name David, from which it descends through Koine Greek transliteration. The Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint) and some New Testament manuscripts employ the form Δαυίδ (Dauid), while the Textus Receptus (the standard Greek New Testament of the Reformation era) uses Δαβίδ (Dabid), a competing transliteration. This linguistic variation reflects the multiple ways Hebrew sounds were adapted into Greek during the Hellenistic period.
History
The name David itself comes from the Hebrew דּוֹד (dod), meaning "beloved" or "uncle", and was made famous by King David, the second monarch of Israel in the 10th century BC. As the Old Testament narrative records, David rose from a young shepherd to defeat the giant Goliath (1 Samuel 17) and united the tribes of Israel under his rule. According to the New Testament, Jesus was descended from David (Matthew 1:1, Luke 3:31). The name's Greek form, Dauid, appears in the Septuagint and was adopted into Old English via Late Latin, giving rise to the Middle English form Dauid, which later predominated in England before the spelling shifted to David by the early Modern English period (The Wiktionary article notes Dauid descending from Old English).
Variants
The Greek manuscripts present two transliterations: Dabid (Δαβίδ, following a b-based representation) and Dauid (Δαυίδ, reflecting a w-based reading). Beyond Greek, David's international spread has yielded many forms: from Amharic Dawit to Georgian Davit, from that Georgian stand out as direct derivatives, the Arabic forms include Daoud, Daud, and Dawood, reflecting the name's cross-cultural adoption via religious scripture (the Qur'an recognizes Dāwud as a prophet.)
- Meaning: "beloved" or "uncle" (Hebrew origin)
- Type: literal transliteration of a biblical name
- Origin: Hebrew David, mediated through Classical Greek (Septuagint) the New Testament version of the same Hebrew original to England from Middle English
Related Names
Sources: Wiktionary — Dauid