Davies is a
patronymic surname of
Welsh origin. There are two main theories concerning its beginnings, neither of which has been definitively proved. The first theory states that it may be a corruption of "
Dyfed", the name of a medieval Welsh kingdom located in what is now
Carmarthenshire; however, the origin of the kingdom's name is itself disputed, with the traditional belief being that it was founded by the powerful Irish
Déisi dynasty in the third century,[1] or otherwise that it derives from the name of the
Demetae people.[2] "Dyfed" as a surname and the related first name "Dafydd" appear from the 12th century, with the latter generally translated into English as "David". The second theory contends that the surname may derive directly from the
Hebrew name "
David", which is also the name of
Wales' patron saint.[3]
The surname is the
joint-second most common in Wales (tied with
Williams) 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 usually pronounced the same as "Davis" (
DAY-vis). This pronunciation is also used by many other English-speaking countries, though it sometimes competes with
DAY-veez, which is particularly common in the United States to distinguish it from "Davis".[citation needed]
This page lists people with the
surnameDavies. If an
internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that
link by adding the person's
given name(s) to the link.
Davies is a
patronymic surname of
Welsh origin. There are two main theories concerning its beginnings, neither of which has been definitively proved. The first theory states that it may be a corruption of "
Dyfed", the name of a medieval Welsh kingdom located in what is now
Carmarthenshire; however, the origin of the kingdom's name is itself disputed, with the traditional belief being that it was founded by the powerful Irish
Déisi dynasty in the third century,[1] or otherwise that it derives from the name of the
Demetae people.[2] "Dyfed" as a surname and the related first name "Dafydd" appear from the 12th century, with the latter generally translated into English as "David". The second theory contends that the surname may derive directly from the
Hebrew name "
David", which is also the name of
Wales' patron saint.[3]
The surname is the
joint-second most common in Wales (tied with
Williams) 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 usually pronounced the same as "Davis" (
DAY-vis). This pronunciation is also used by many other English-speaking countries, though it sometimes competes with
DAY-veez, which is particularly common in the United States to distinguish it from "Davis".[citation needed]
This page lists people with the
surnameDavies. If an
internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that
link by adding the person's
given name(s) to the link.