Davies

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

Davies is a patronymic Welsh surname. It is the second most common surname in Wales and the eighth most common in England, where a large percentage of people have Welsh ancestry.[1] It is particularly widespread in southwest England, especially Cornwall.[1] It is not very common in the United States, where the variant "Davis" is seen more.[2]

The surname's origin has not been definitively proven. It may be a corruption of "Dyfed", which is itself a corruption of Déisi, the name of a powerful Irish dynasty that occupied the old tribal area of the Demetae in Wales during the third year AD.[3] "Dyfed" is recorded as a surname as late as the 12th century, while "Dafydd" appeared as a given name in the 13th century. The latter is generally translated into English as "David". Alternatively, it may derive from "David", the Hebrew name meaning "beloved" and the name of Wales' patron saint.[4]

In Wales, the surname is most commonly pronounced the same as "Davis" (DAY-vis). This pronunciation is also dominant elsewhere in the United Kingdom and is used by many outside it, though it sometimes competes with the spelling pronunciation of DAY-veez, which is particularly common in the U.S. to dinstinguish it from "Davis".[citation needed]

List of people with the surname[]

A[]

  • Aaron Michael Davies (born 1984), American actor
  • Adam Davies (disambiguation), multiple people
  • A. Donald Davies, American Episcopal bishop
  • Adrian Davies (barrister), English barrister
  • Adrian Davies (rugby player), Welsh rugby footballer
  • Adrienne Davies, American musician
  • Alan Davies (disambiguation), multiple people
  • Alec Davies, Scottish cricketer
  • Alex Davies (disambiguation), multiple people
  • Alexandra Davies (born 1977), English-born Australian actress
  • Alice Davies (1870 – after 1919), British suffragette and nurse
  • Alphonso Davies (born 2000), Ghanaian-born Canadian soccer player
  • Alfred Davies (disambiguation), multiple people
  • Alun Davies (disambiguation), multiple people
  • Andrew Davies (disambiguation), multiple people
  • Anne Davies (disambiguation), or Ann Davies, multiple people
  • Anthony Davies, Welsh snooker player
  • Antony Davies, American economist
  • Arthur Davies (disambiguation), multiple people
  • Ashley Slanina-Davies, English actress

B[]

C[]

D[]

  • Dai Davies (disambiguation), multiple people
  • Dangerous Davies, fictional character from The Last Detective
  • Dave Davies (disambiguation), multiple people
  • David Davies (disambiguation), multiple people
  • Deddie Davies (1938–2016), Welsh character actress
  • Denys Johnson-Davies, Canadian translator
  • Denzil Davies, British politician
  • Diana Davies (disambiguation), multiple people
  • Dick Davies (1936–2012), American Olympic basketball player
  • Dickie Davies, English television presenter
  • Domenick Davies, German rugby union international
  • Donald Davies (disambiguation), multiple people

E[]

F[]

G[]

H[]

I[]

  • Ian Davies (disambiguation), multiple people
  • Idris Davies, Welsh poet

J[]

K[]

L[]

M[]

N[]

O[]

P[]

Q[]

R[]

S[]

T[]

V[]

W[]

  • W. H. Davies, Welsh poet and writer
  • W. P. C. Davies, English rugby player and headmaster
  • W. R. Davies, second president (1941–1959) of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
  • Walford Davies, English composer
  • William Davies (disambiguation), multiple people
  • William Rupert Davies, former Canadian senator
  • Windsor Davies (1930–2019), English actor

Z[]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Davies Surname Meaning and Distribution". forebears.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2014
  2. ^ "Davis Surname Meaning and Distribution". forebears.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2014
  3. ^ 'The Celts', TGE Powell, Thames & Hudson, 1958
  4. ^ "Surname Database: Davies Last Name Origin". surnamedb.com.
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