Davies

Davies is a patronymic Welsh surname. There are two main theories concerning its origin, neither of which has been definitively proven. The first theory contends that it may be a corruption of Déisi, the name of a powerful Irish dynasty who occupied an area of Wales during AD 3,[1][2] while the second theory states that it may derive from the Hebrew name "David", which is also the name of Wales' patron saint.[3]

This article is about the surname. For the crater, see Davies (crater).
Davies
Language(s)Welsh, potentially via Hebrew
Origin
Region of originWales
Other names
Variant form(s)

The surname is the second most common in Wales and the eighth most common in England, where a large percentage of people have Welsh ancestry.[4] It is particularly widespread in southwest England, especially Cornwall, and in northwest England, large parts of which are on the border with Wales.[4] It is uncommon in the United States, where the variant "Davis" is seen more.[5] In the United Kingdom, the surname is most commonly pronounced the same as "Davis" (DAY-vis). This pronunciation is also used by many outside the UK, though it sometimes competes with DAY-veez, which is particularly common in the US to distinguish it from "Davis".

List of people with the surname

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

V

W

Z

See also

References
  1. 'The Celts', TGE Powell, Thames & Hudson, 1958
  2. "Dyfed" is the corruption of Déisi generally accepted as the name giving rise to "Davies". It is recorded as a surname as late as the 12th century, while "Dafydd" appeared as a given name in the 13th century, and the latter is generally translated into English as "David".
  3. "Surname Database: Davies Last Name Origin". surnamedb.com.
  4. "Davies Surname Meaning and Distribution". forebears.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2014
  5. "Davis Surname Meaning and Distribution". forebears.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2014
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.