Short form of David, from Hebrew 'Dawid' meaning 'beloved.'
Dave is the affable, time-tested short form of David, one of the most consequential names in Western history. David derives from the Hebrew דָּוִד (Dawid), almost certainly meaning "beloved" — a fitting name for the shepherd boy who became the greatest king of ancient Israel, the slayer of Goliath, the author of Psalms, and the progenitor of the Messianic line in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic tradition alike. David is patron saint of Wales, whose feast day (March 1) remains a national celebration; his name has been borne by kings of Scotland, philosophers, artists, and presidents across three millennia.
Dave as a standalone name — not merely a nickname — became fully established in the 20th century, carrying a particular connotation of democratic friendliness. There is something deliberately unpretentious about Dave: it is the name of someone who will help you move furniture, who laughs at his own jokes, who is reliable in ways that don't require announcement. This quality made it enormously popular in mid-century America and Britain, producing a generation of Daves — Bowie (born David Jones), Dave Brubeck, Dave Chappelle, Dave Grohl — whose collective output spans jazz, rock, comedy, and high art.
The name has declined somewhat in infant registries since the 1980s, as parents sought rarer choices, but Dave persists with a kind of cultural permanence. It is the name that anchors ensemble casts, that functions as a placeholder in jokes precisely because it feels universal. To be named Dave is to inherit centuries of "beloved" — not grand or exalted, just genuinely, durably loved.