boys' name ★ peaked 1955

David

Meaning A male given name from Hebrew Gender Boy Rank 2025 #35 Trend ↓ Falling 17%

A male given name from Hebrew.

Rank 2025
#35
among boys · ↓4 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
6,801
named David · -8% vs 2024
How common
1 in 251
boys born in 2025
Peak year
1955
86,454 babies
All-time total
3,689,613
#6 all-time among boys
First recorded
1880
in Social Security records

David popularity over time

3,689,613 babies have been named David since 1880, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
12.52537.55018801900192019401960198020002020BoysGirls
BoysGirls

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s 20 7,569 7,589 759 – #18
1890s 28 7,333 7,361 736 -3% #24
1900s 42 8,619 8,661 866 +18% #29
1910s 227 43,853 44,080 4,408 +409% #27
1920s 497 88,736 89,233 8,923 +102% #17
1930s 675 164,701 165,376 16,538 +85% #7
1940s 1,042 426,372 427,414 42,741 +158% #5
1950s 1,580 769,963 771,543 77,154 +81% #2
1960s 2,524 733,953 736,477 73,648 -5% #1
1970s 2,494 445,704 448,198 44,820 -39% #3
1980s 2,535 383,687 386,222 38,622 -14% #4
1990s 749 253,711 254,460 25,446 -34% #6
2000s 337 180,098 180,435 18,044 -29% #12
2010s 160 116,740 116,900 11,690 -35% #15
2020s (to 2025) 49 45,615 45,664 7,611 -35% #27

Where David is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 boys (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 boys Implied rank
2026 6,575 3.85 #37
2027 6,394 3.74 #39
2028 6,244 3.66 #41
2029 6,120 3.58 #44
2030 6,016 3.52 #46

Where David is most popular

Boys named David per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 4.32 per 1,000. Strongest in Delaware, District of Columbia, and New York.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are boys named David born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Boys 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Delaware 125 8.24 +91%
District of Columbia 111 7.52 +74%
New York 3,235 7.47 +73%
New Jersey 1,335 6.63 +53%
Rhode Island 103 6.32 +46%
Maryland 753 6.31 +46%
Alaska 75 6.30 +46%
New Mexico 195 5.92 +37%
Washington 917 5.61 +30%
Hawaii 85 5.47 +27%
Texas 4,642 5.27 +22%
Florida 2,487 5.25 +21%
Pennsylvania 1,381 5.20 +20%
Alabama 565 5.17 +20%
California 4,706 5.15 +19%
North Carolina 1,277 5.00 +16%
South Carolina 514 4.97 +15%
Arizona 812 4.96 +15%
Nevada 280 4.91 +14%
Virginia 927 4.89 +13%
Kentucky 489 4.87 +13%
Illinois 1,231 4.82 +11%
Tennessee 869 4.81 +11%
Mississippi 270 4.75 +10%
Georgia 1,203 4.75 +10%
Nebraska 205 4.71 +9%
Indiana 742 4.63 +7%
Massachusetts 624 4.54 +5%
Oregon 340 4.48 ≈ national
Arkansas 282 4.46 ≈ national
Montana 78 4.42 ≈ national
Maine 84 4.33 ≈ national
Connecticut 293 4.33 ≈ national
Wyoming 25 4.32 ≈ national
Oklahoma 382 4.32 ≈ national
Idaho 174 4.25 ≈ national
Louisiana 430 4.20 ≈ national
Colorado 540 4.18 ≈ national
New Hampshire 92 4.14 ≈ national
Michigan 841 4.11 -5%
North Dakota 70 4.10 -5%
Utah 385 4.03 -7%
Missouri 551 3.98 -8%
Kansas 270 3.94 -9%
Vermont 24 3.82 -12%
Ohio 1,009 3.81 -12%
Iowa 261 3.79 -12%
Wisconsin 437 3.69 -15%
South Dakota 67 3.60 -17%
Minnesota 432 3.52 -19%
West Virginia 105 3.22 -26%

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of David

David is a top-50 name for boys in the United States, ranked #35 in 2025 with 6,794 babies given the name. It is currently declining compared with a decade ago.

Since 1880, 3,689,613 American babies have been named David. Its peak came in 1955, when 86,454 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1950s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where David stood among all boys' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named David?

The median living David is about 56 years old; half are between 39 and 67. An estimated 2.8 million people named David are alive in the United States today.

median 56 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

David year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 7 #12,214 6,794 #35
2024 7 #12,482 7,369 #31
2023 8 #11,442 7,420 #27
2022 6 #14,018 7,829 #31
2021 11 #9,115 7,940 #30
2020 10 #9,734 8,263 #28
2019 12 #8,717 8,989 #27
2018 14 #7,869 9,812 #22
2017 9 #10,908 10,244 #22
2016 15 #7,689 11,153 #19
2015 19 #6,522 11,838 #18
2014 13 #8,597 12,259 #17
2013 15 #7,858 12,400 #17
2012 18 #6,941 12,565 #20
2011 20 #6,397 13,258 #18
2010 25 #5,466 14,222 #15
2009 16 #7,776 15,457 #14
2008 22 #6,187 16,347 #14
2007 24 #5,759 17,573 #12
2006 30 #4,712 17,671 #13
2005 25 #5,142 18,144 #12
2004 66 #2,534 18,412 #14
2003 31 #4,239 18,641 #14
2002 38 #3,538 18,704 #13
2001 41 #3,327 19,362 #12
2000 44 #3,130 19,787 #16
1995 69 #1,988 23,045 #16
1990 120 #1,336 33,748 #6
1985 290 #640 38,522 #6
1980 291 #626 41,891 #4
1975 237 #646 39,156 #5
1970 290 #600 61,728 #3
1965 218 #667 67,825 #3
1960 222 #685 85,929 #1
1955 148 #791 86,306 #2
1950 134 #743 60,729 #5
1945 87 #810 37,110 #6
1940 84 #762 27,690 #7
1935 60 #894 15,663 #11
1930 86 #755 12,275 #15
1925 40 #1,229 8,915 #22
1920 33 #1,382 7,444 #25
1915 31 #1,264 5,394 #31
1910 9 #1,660 1,258 #30
1905 7 #1,572 838 #32
1900 9 #1,344 883 #32
1895 5 #1,652 707 #32
1890 – – 731 #26
1885 5 #1,080 712 #22
1880 – – 869 #18

Famous people named David

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 David Attenborough David Attenborough English broadcaster and natural historian (born 1926) Contemporary
  2. 2 David Beckham David Beckham English footballer (born 1975) Contemporary
  3. 3 David Bowie David Bowie English musician and actor (1947–2016) Contemporary
  4. 4 David Lynch David Lynch American filmmaker (1946–2025) Contemporary
  5. 5 David Carradine David Carradine American actor (1936–2009) Contemporary
  6. 6 David David Biblical figure and Israelite monarch -1010–-970 · Antiquity
  7. 7 David Fincher David Fincher American filmmaker (born 1962) Contemporary
  8. 8 David Hasselhoff David Hasselhoff American actor, singer, and television personality (born 1952) Contemporary
  9. 9 David Cronenberg David Cronenberg Canadian filmmaker (born 1943) Contemporary
  10. 10 David Hockney David Hockney British artist (1937–2026) Contemporary
  11. 11 David Niven David Niven English actor, memoirist and novelist (1910–1983) Contemporary
  12. 12 David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion Prime Minister of Israel (1948–1953; 1955–1963) 1886–1973 · 19th century
  13. 13 David Suchet David Suchet English actor (born 1946) Contemporary
  14. 14 David Copperfield David Copperfield American magician (born 1956) Contemporary
  15. 15 David Guetta David Guetta French DJ (born 1967) Contemporary
  16. 16 David Rockefeller David Rockefeller American banker and philanthropist (1915–2017) Contemporary
  17. 17 David Lloyd George David Lloyd George Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922 1863–1945 · 19th century
  18. 18 David Hume David Hume Scottish philosopher, historian, economist and essayist (1711–1776) 18th century
  19. 19 David Irving David Irving British author and Holocaust denier (born 1938) Contemporary
  20. 20 David Livingstone David Livingstone British colonialist and missionary 1813–1873 · 19th century

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about David, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average David?

The median living David is about 56 years old. Half of all living Davids are between 39 and 67 years old.

How many people named David are alive today?

An estimated 2.8 million people named David are alive in the United States, based on 3,689,613 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name David mean?

A male given name from Hebrew.

How popular is the name David in 2025?

David ranked #35 among boys' names in the United States in 2025, with 6,794 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named David?

3,689,613 babies have been named David in the United States since 1880, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name David most popular?

David peaked in 1955, when 86,454 newborns received the name.

Is David a boy or girl name?

David is overwhelmingly a boy's name: 100% of babies with the name.

Is the name David rising or falling?

David is declining, less popular now than a decade ago.

Will David become more popular?

David is trending downward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 6,016 boys named David in 2030, which would rank around #46. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named David?

Well-known people named David include David Attenborough (presenter), David Beckham (soccer player), David Bowie (singer).

Names like David

Names that sound and feel close to David: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare David with similar names → More names starting with D →