Dawud
Masculine · “beloved”
Dawud is the Arabic form of David, and it is the form used in the Qur'an, where he is both a king and a prophet. The name has been in use for as long as Arabic has been written, and it is among the steadiest men's names in the Muslim world.
How old is the name Dawud?
Dawud first appears in US birth records in 1970 — 55 years ago. The typical Dawud alive today was born around 2004, making them about 21 years old. About 1,000 people named Dawud are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Dawud most popular?
Dawud peaked in 1977, reaching #1450 nationally. Today it ranks #3128, 1,678 places below that high. See the whole 1977 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Dawid to Dawud
The story of Dawud
Hebrew Dawid entered Arabic as Dawud, with the long u that Arabic gives the middle. In Islamic tradition he is a prophet as well as a king, credited with the Zabur, and the name carries that standing wherever Arabic is read. English-language records show Dawud, Daoud, Davud and Dawood for the same name, the differences coming from which language did the transliterating.
Meaning
beloved
From the Hebrew Dawid, generally read as beloved; the Arabic form preserves the same consonants.
How the name formed
- Dawid
- Dawud
Related forms: Daud · Dawood · Daoud · David
Pronouncing Dawud
dah-WOOD
Two syllables with the stress on the second and a long oo. Americans often say DAW-ud.
Nicknames for Dawud
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
- 1970
- Most boys named
- 202346 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1450reached in 1977
- Change vs 2024
- −13.6%38 in 2025, from 44
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.
Dawud in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Daud in Arabic — transliteration
- Dawood in Urdu — spelling variant
- Daoud in French — transliteration
- David in English — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, California, Texas.
Dawuds among us
people named Dawud are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 44,949 born in 2025 was named Dawud
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 Kenn test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Dawud's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Kenn climbed just as high around 1958, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Kenn's path sketches the road Dawud is walking now.
Dawud 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 Dawud is headed
Dawud looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 26% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
Medium 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.
Dawud beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Dawud in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is the same name as David, so it is never entirely unfamiliar in an English-speaking country.
- Recognized immediately across the Arabic-speaking world and beyond it.
- A settled meaning and a record measured in millennia.
- Dawood, Daoud and Daud are the same name in other spellings, and relatives may use another one.
- English readers see aw and say it as in dawn, which moves the stress and shortens the name.
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What they receive
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Dawud
Masculine · #3128 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Dawuds are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Dawud are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Dawud in 2025?
- Dawud ranks #3128 among US boy names in 2025, with 38 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Dawud?
- About 1 in every 44,949 US boys born in 2025 was named Dawud — 38 in all.
- Will my child share the name Dawud with classmates?
- Dawud will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Dawud
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Juanpablo#3128 · Tavion#3128 · Hamilton#3128 · Baxter#3128 · Javen#3128 · Hal#3128 · Courtney#3128 · Tiberius#3128
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Dawud? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Dawud and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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