Male name
Dave
245 births (England and Wales, 1996–2025), peaking in 2005. Expression number: 5.
Origin
(Nom propre 1) From Ancient Greek Δᾱος, Dâos via Latin Davus. (Nom propre 2) Disputed etymology. Daveles (for the locality). According to Carnoy, perhaps comes from Latin albula (in the sense of "white water" or "little white one"), with agglutination of the article: d'Ave, compare with Ave, Leffe and Neffe. According to Jespers, would have a Germanic origin *dabo or *dapo (with a diminutive -il or -ul, in the sense of "small puddle of water"), to be linked with dialectal Norwegian dave ("puddle"). The Walloon Dauve, perhaps via *Dabula, suggests an evolution comparable to Latin tabula → tauve ("table").Translated by Arcanes from the French Wiktionnaire, entry “Dave”, text and translation under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Do you know a Dave?
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How many babies received it
From the official birth registers.
In England and Wales
Peak in 2005: 15 births. 245 births from 1996 to 2025. A name given mostly in the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. It is still given: 49 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Baby names in England and Wales, Open Government Licence v3.0.
In the United States
Peak in 1959: 3,308 births. 64,492 births from 1880 to 2025. A name given mostly in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. At its peak, it ranked 95th among boys' names in 1881. It is still given: 320 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Social Security Administration, Popular Baby Names, public domain.
Elsewhere in the world
The name in the birth records of the 10 countries we track. The period covered varies from country to country.
| Country | Births | Period | Best rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quebec | 4,721 | 1980–2025 | 32nd in 1984 |
| France | 1,160 | 1900–2025 | — |
| Switzerland | 425* | 1915–2025 | — |
| Berlin | 34 | 2012–2023 | — |
* These are the people living in the country, counted by year of birth, not the number of births.
Source: Retraite Québec, Banque de prénoms, CC BY 4.0; INSEE, Fichier des prénoms, Etalab Open Licence 2.0; Federal Statistical Office, First names of the population by year of birth, free use with attribution; Open Data Berlin, Häufige Vornamen, CC BY 3.0 DE (every name a child carries, not only the first).
The numbers of the name
Each letter has a value: A = 1, B = 2… I = 9, then J = 1 again (Pythagorean method). We add them up, then reduce to a single digit, except 11, 22 and 33.
■ vowel · ■ consonant
Expression
All the letters: talents, the way you act.
5
freedom, change, movement
4 + 1 + 4 + 5 = 14 → 5
Soul
The vowels: what drives you deep down.
6
responsibility, harmony, commitment to others
1 + 5 = 6
Personality
The consonants: what others notice first.
8
power, achievement, your relationship with money
4 + 4 = 8
- Digits missing from the name
- 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9
- Most frequent digit
- 4 · work, structure, stability
The meaning of the numbers comes from numerological tradition; it isn't a measure of your personality. A full portrait needs your first and middle names, your last name at birth, and your date of birth. How we calculate
Your name and theirs
The number of each name, and the number of the bond, which comes from adding them together. A symbolic game: what your two names say together, to be read as a metaphor, not as a verdict on your relationship.