Davidson
Masculine · “beloved”
Davidson means son of David, and David is one of the very few great biblical names whose meaning has never been securely established.
How old is the name Davidson?
Davidson first appears in US birth records in 1924 — 101 years ago. The typical Davidson alive today was born around 2005, making them about 20 years old. About 1,100 people named Davidson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Davidson most popular?
Davidson peaked in 1994, reaching #2444 nationally. Today it ranks #3949, 1,505 places below that high. See the whole 1994 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Dawid to Davidson
The story of Davidson
David is the shepherd, poet, warrior and king whose story occupies a larger share of the Hebrew Bible than anyone else's, and the name spread through Christian and Jewish Europe alike. Scotland took it particularly hard — two kings and the Clan Davidson — and the patronymic surname is Scottish and northern English. Its use as a given name is recent and American.
Meaningscholars disagree
beloved
Hebrew Dawid is generally read as beloved, from a root about loving, but the derivation is not certain and a connection to a word for a chieftain found in older Near Eastern texts has been argued. The -son ending is straightforward.
How the name formed
- Dawid
- David
- Davidson
Related forms: Davison · Davies · Dawid
Pronouncing Davidson
DAY-vid-sun
Three syllables, first stressed. There is no variation in English.
Nicknames for Davidson
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1924
- Most boys named
- 200938 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2444reached in 1994
- Change vs 2024
- +68.8%27 in 2025, from 16
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Davidson in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Davison in English — spelling variant
- Davies in Welsh — related form
- Dawid in Hebrew — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Florida, California.
Davidsons among us
people named Davidson are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 63,262 born in 2025 was named Davidson
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Dewell test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Davidson's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Dewell climbed just as high around 1930, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Dewell's path sketches the road Davidson is walking now.
Davidson sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Davidson is headed
Davidson is easing off slowly — about 15% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Davidson beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Davidson in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Dave and Davy are both complete short forms with enormous records.
- One of the best-documented figures in the Hebrew Bible stands behind it.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- It reads as a surname to people meeting it in front of another one.
- Eight letters and three syllables is a fair amount for early handwriting.
- A motorcycle manufacturer carries the surname prominently.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Davidson
Masculine · #3949 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Davidsons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,100 people named Davidson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Davidson in 2025?
- Davidson ranks #3949 among US boy names in 2025, with 27 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Davidson?
- About 1 in every 63,262 US boys born in 2025 was named Davidson — 27 in all.
- Will my child share the name Davidson with classmates?
- Davidson will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Davidson
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Stewart#3949 · Tillman#3949 · Ashley#3949 · Alfonzo#3949 · Blane#3949 · Brayton#3949 · Omega#3949 · Rufus#3949
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Davidson? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Davidson and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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