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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

David: lovely or awful?

90 replies

DeLasMartinez · 27/09/2020 21:14

I really like David for DS2 right now, and so does DH to my surprise, particularly because it matches perfectly with Samuel (DS1) IMO; the whole story in the bible about him anointing David. So is it lovely and thus we go for it, or is it just my hormones playing up?

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Garcellesaidwhaaat · 01/10/2020 12:16

It's neither, imo

IsadoraQuagmire · 01/10/2020 12:04

I know several Davids aged from 20s to about 60s and none of them shorten their name.

msgloria · 01/10/2020 11:50

It's quite a popular name for little boys from European families living in the UK - it's not as rare for little ones as some might assume. Depends where you live I suppose.

Alongcameacat · 29/09/2020 23:41

Neither awful or lovely. David is ok but is RUINED by the nickname Dave. I don't know any David (and I know quite a few) who is not called Dave by somebody!

Pansypath · 29/09/2020 23:37

I LOVE it. Wanted it for one of my DS but DH didn't like Dave so we have used as a middle name.

GarlicSoup · 29/09/2020 23:35

Awful

JustanotherTuesday · 29/09/2020 23:33

My brother is called David and he's in his mid forties but I've never really liked it. It is really dated and much too soon for a comeback. I would put it in the same league as Martin and Stephen.

saraclara · 29/09/2020 23:23

It would have been our boy name. But we only had girls.

You can have it if you like! I'm past baby producing now Grin

Abracadabra12345 · 29/09/2020 23:17

We have a David in my preschool and no one calls him Dave. If others do, just correct them! Gorgeous name

HairyToity · 29/09/2020 23:10

Love the name David. Also for his age group it will be quite unusual.

Knowivedonewrong · 29/09/2020 16:00

My dad is David, always called Dave. My son has David as his middle name.

AfterSchoolWorry · 29/09/2020 10:58

David is in the same family as Martin, Graham, Paul etc. David is a 50-60 year old mans name.

Dated, but too soon for a comeback.

Brighterthansunflowers · 29/09/2020 10:55

David is lovely but Dave sounds like a 40+ year old man.

Whatthebloodyell · 29/09/2020 09:56

I think David is great but Dave is not. I have known a gazillion, and some are David and some are Dave and some are Davey and one was Dav, so I don’t think a nn of Dave is inevitable (thank goodness, Dave is perfectly fine for a middle aged man but not for a baby)!

noimkaren · 29/09/2020 09:51

Just use David, and give THe Look to anyone who shortens it. I know many adult Davids, no Daves

LarkDescending · 29/09/2020 09:40

Lovely.

It’s a family name for us, and none of our Davids (grandfather, father cousin) has ever been a Dave.

Auto · 29/09/2020 08:22

It's an underused classic due a revival.

MrsDeltaB · 29/09/2020 00:30

My dear old late dad was David but was and is referred to as Davie. Maybe it being said with Scottish tone softened it.

foxtiger · 28/09/2020 16:54

Neither lovely nor awful, IMO. It's very classic and neutral.

ErrolTheDragon · 28/09/2020 12:18

It's a good solid name. Though if part of your reason for liking it is the biblical stories, they're not all positive if you remember the fate of Uriah the Hittite.

MikeUniformMike · 28/09/2020 12:11

Classic. Love it. I'm not mad about Dave but Davey is cute. Could always shorten it to Day or Dai.

pigeonsfeather · 28/09/2020 05:19

I like David but while people are saying Dave isn’t inevitable, to be honest it is once adolescence and adulthood sets in. You have control over it as a child but not beyond that.

I have similar with the girls name Rosalind, which I think is lovely, but I really hate Roz.

sunyla · 28/09/2020 05:15

It's okay but It sounds like a middle aged man, I can't really imagine it on a small child.

Patienceisvirtuous · 28/09/2020 03:48

DH is David, not Dave. It’s also DS’ middle name.

newtb · 28/09/2020 03:44

Been married to and engaged to a David (but I knew him as another name).

Both were violent and sexually abused me. So don't like the name personally. Still they could've been called Fred for all that matters

However, the names do go together. And I like your reasoning. In a Delderfield novel David Powlet-Jones was called Davy as another version of David. You can't really say until you meet them. Or even Davie.

I knew an Emma. Never shortened until her personality emerged and in an instant she was Emmy - her spelling, think I'd have used Emmie.

I have a name that no-one can spell, no-one has heard of, and not even sure if it's visible on 192.com as I left the UK over 10 years ago. There was only 1 other, she's no longer there but would probably be in her late 70s.

So, after going all round the houses, it works on all levels. Go for it.