David is a Hebrew name meaning "beloved". King David, the shepherd boy who defeated Goliath and later ruled Israel, made it one of the most widely used names in Jewish and Christian tradition, and Michelangelo's statue of him is among the most famous works of art in the world. In the United States David has never left the top 40 in this century: it ranked number 16 in 2000, number 12 in 2001 and still stands at number 35 among boys in 2025.