Davis is a surname of English and Welsh origin. As an English surname it may be a corruption of Davy or a reference to King David in the Old Testament. As a Welsh surname may be a corruption of

Dyfed Dyfed () is a preserved county in southwestern Wales. It is a mostly rural area with a coastline on the Irish Sea and the Bristol Channel. Between 1974 and 1996, Dyfed was also the name of the area's county council and the name remains in use ...

, related to Irish colonists who occupied an area of southwest Wales in the late third century and established a dynasty there which lasted five centuries. Dyfed is recorded as a surname as late as the twelfth century, e.g. Gwynfard Dyfed, born 1175. Dafydd (generally translated into English as David) appears as a given name in the thirteenth century, e.g.

Dafydd ap Gruffydd Dafydd ap Gruffydd (11 July 1238 – 3 October 1283) was Prince of Wales from 11 December 1282 until his execution on 3 October 1283 on the orders of King Edward I of England. He was the last native Prince of Wales before the conquest of Wa ...

(1238–1283), Prince of Wales, and Dafydd ab Edmwnd ( ), a Welsh poet. Alternatively, Davis may be a

patronymic surname A patronymic surname is a surname originated from the given name of the father or a patrilineal ancestor. Different cultures have different ways of producing patronymic surnames. For example, early patronymic Welsh surnames were the result of t ...

(''son of David''). Davis is the 45th most common surname in England and 68th most common in Wales. According to the 2000 United States census, it is the seventh most frequently reported surname, accounting for 0.48% of the population, preceding Garcia and following

Miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents ...

. It was the seventh most common surname in the United States in 2014. It is also recorded in the spellings of Davies, Davison and several others.

References

External links

Davis Family Papers, 1829–1915

New-York Historical Society The New-York Historical Society is an American history museum and library in New York City, along Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museu ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis English-language surnames Surnames of Welsh origin Anglicised Welsh-language surnames Patronymic surnames Jewish surnames Surnames from given names