List of people named David
The given name "David" may refer to:
Medieval
Late antiquity to early medieval
David was adopted as a Christian name from at least the 6th century.- David the Invincible, Neoplatonic philosopher
- David , Greek scholar
- Saint David, patron saint of Wales
- David Saharuni, presiding prince of Byzantine-controlled Armenia
- David I of Iberia
- David II of Iberia
- David of Bulgaria, Bulgarian noble
- David III of Tao
High medieval
- Saint David of Muscovy or Gleb, brother of Saint Roman of Muscovy or Boris, and son of Saint Vladimir
- David of Taman, late 10th century Khazar ruler
- David, 11th-century ruler of the Seljuk Turks
- David of Munktorp
- David I of Scotland, Roman Catholic saint
- David of Makuria, ruler of Makuria
- Kings of Georgia:
- * David IV of Georgia
- * David V of Georgia
- * David VI of Georgia
- * David VII of Georgia
- * David VIII of Georgia
Late medieval and early modern
- David, Lord of Brechin
- David II of Scotland
- Kings of Georgia:
- * David IX of Georgia
- * David X of Kartli
- * David XI of Kartli
- Davit as a name adopted by Emperors of Ethiopia:
- * David I or Dawit I of Ethiopia
- * David II or Dawit II of Ethiopia
- * David III or Dawit III of Ethiopia
- David Bek, Armenian military commander
Modern
Actors
- David Ames, English actor
- David Arquette, American actor, director and producer
- David Battley, British actor
- David Birney, American actor
- David Boreanaz, American actor
- David Carradine, American actor
- David Caruso, American actor
- Dave Chappelle, American comedian
- David Abraham Cheulkar, Indian actor known as "David"
- David Cross, American actor
- David Conrad , American actor
- David Dayan Fisher, American actor
- David DeLuise, American actor
- David Dorfman, American actor
- David Duchovny, American actor
- David Freiheit, Canadian YouTuber
- Dave Foley, Canadian actor/Comedian
- David Gasman, American actor and director
- David Hasselhoff, American actor, singer, songwriter
- David Hemmings, British actor
- David Henrie, American actor
- David Hewlett, English-born Canadian actor, writer, director and voice actor
- David St. James, American actor
- David Jason, British actor
- David Kaye, Canadian actor
- David Keith, American actor
- David Koechner, American actor
- David Kross, German actor
- David Lander, American actor, comedian, composer, musician and baseball scout
- David Letterman, American comedian
- David Lynch, American actor, film and television director, musician
- Dave Mallow, American actor
- David McCallum, Scottish actor
- David Mitchell , British comedian, actor and writer
- David Morse, American actor
- David Moscow, American actor
- David Nelson, American actor, director, and producer
- David Niven, English actor
- David Nykl, Czech-born Canadian actor
- David Oakes, English actor
- David Opatoshu, American actor
- David Paetkau, Canadian actor
- David Palffy, Canadian actor
- David Hyde Pierce, American actor
- David Prowse, British actor and athlete
- David Reivers, American actor
- David Schofield, English actor
- David Schwimmer, American actor and director
- David Soul, British-American actor and singer
- David Spade, American actor, comedian, writer and television personality
- David Ogden Stiers, American actor and conductor
- David Sutcliffe, Canadian-American actor
- David Tennant, Scottish actor
- David Thewlis, English actor, writer and director
- David Tomlinson, English actor and comedian
- David Walliams, English actor, comedian, writer and television personality
- David Wain, American actor, comedian, writer and director
- David Warshofsky, American actor
- Dave Wittenberg, American actor
Biologists
- David Attenborough, English broadcaster and naturalist
- David Bellamy, British author and environmental campaigner
- David J. Lipman, Director of the National Center for Biotechnology Information
- David Suzuki, Japanese Canadian science broadcaster and environmental activist
Politicians
- David Bellotti, British Liberal Democrat politician
- David Ben-Gurion, first Prime Minister of Israel
- David Blunkett, British MP
- David Byrne , Irish and European official
- David Cameron, British Prime Minister
- David Chingunji, Angola politician
- Dwight David Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States
- David Grimes, former member of the Alabama House of Representatives
- David Lam, Canada's first Asian-Canadian Lieutenant-Governor
- David Laws, British MP
- David Lloyd George, Welsh Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1916–1922
- David McAllister, German politician, MEP and former Minister-President of Lower Saxony
- David Miliband, British MP
- David Owen, UK politician, Labour Foreign Secretary ; SDP founder, and leader
- David Shaw , accountant, British Conservative politician
- David Steel,, UK politician, leader of Liberal Party
Musicians
- Dave Abbruzzese, American drummer with Pearl Jam
- Daevid Allen, Australian guitarist and singer with Gong and Soft Machine
- David Archuleta, 2008 American Idol runner-up
- David Arkenstone, new age composer
- David Bowie, British rock singer, songwriter, producer
- David Bromberg is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter.
- David Brubeck, American jazz pianist and composer
- David Byrne, musician and former Talking Heads frontman
- Dave Clark, drummer with UK band The Dave Clark Five
- David Clayton Thomas lead singer for Blood Sweat & Tears
- David Allan Coe American Country music singer
- David Cook, 2008 American Idol winner
- David Coverdale British hard rock vocalist
- David Crosby, singer-songwriter, member of the Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
- David Crowder, singer of a 6-piece Christian electronic rock and worship band from Waco, Texas
- David & David, 1980s pop group consisting of two men named David
- Dave Davies, lead guitarist and vocalist of the Kinks
- David Desrosiers, member of Simple Plan
- David Draiman, vocalist of the band Disturbed
- Dave Edmunds, Welsh singer, guitarist and record producer
- Dave Ellefson,American Bassist, member of Megadeth
- David H. Evans, known as The Edge, guitarist in Irish rock band U2
- David Essex, English singer-songwriter and actor
- David Gahan, lead singer of the band Depeche Mode
- David Garrett, German-American classical violinist and recording artist
- David Gilmour, British rock singer-songwriter
- David Gray, British rock singer-songwriter
- Dave Grohl, American drummer with Nirvana, then Foo Fighters
- Dave Grusin, American composer of The Goonies
- Davey Havok , American vocalist of the band AFI
- Davy Jones, actor and singer-songwriter with The Monkees
- Dave Lombardo, drummer for Slayer
- David Lowery, American guitarist, singer-songwriter for Cracker
- Dave Matthews, South African-born singer, guitarist
- Dave Mustaine,American Guitarist, Singer. member of Metallica and Megadeth
- David Nail, country singer
- Dave Navarro, guitarist with Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers
- David Nevue, solo piano composer and a pianist
- Dave O'Higgins, British jazz saxophonist
- David Paich, keyboardist of Grammy-winning band Toto
- David Pybus, bassist of British heavy metal group Cradle of Filth
- David Lee Roth, American rock singer-songwriter
- Dave Rowntree, drummer of Blur
- David Ruffin, American R&B singer and dancer, lead singer of The Temptations
- David Sanborn, American jazz alto saxophonist
- David Silveria, former drummer of KoRn
- David A. Stewart, Eurythmics and Dave Stewart and the Spiritual Cowboys
- Dave Swarbrick, English folk musician and singer-songwriter
- David Tao,, Taiwanese singer-songwriter
- David Usher, British rock singer-songwriter
Athletes
- David Abrard, French butterfly swimmer
- David Alaba, Austrian footballer
- David Albelda, Spanish footballer
- David Álvarez Aguirre, Spanish naturalized Equatoguinean footballer
- David Attewell,, English basketball player
- David Andersen, Australian professional basketball player
- Dave Andreychuk, Canadian ice hockey player
- David Artell, English footballer
- David Aucagne, French rugby union player
- David Backes, American ice hockey player
- David Barlow, Australian basketball player
- Dave Batista, American professional wrestler
- David Beckham, English footballer
- David Belle, French founder of Parkour
- David Ben Dayan, Israeli football player
- David Bentley, English footballer
- David Binn, American football All-Pro long snapper
- David Bishop, British athlete
- David Blair, Edinburgh rugby player
- David Blatt, Israeli-American basketball player and coach
- David Blough, American football player
- David Blu, American and Israeli Euroleague basketball forward
- David Boston, American football player
- David Byrne , English football player
- David Byrne,, South African soccer player and coach
- David Carney, Australian footballer
- David Chaussinand, French hammer thrower
- David Cloke, Australian rules footballer
- David Cobb, American football player
- David Coulthard, Scottish Formula One racer
- David de Gea, Spanish footballer, goalkeeper playing for Manchester United
- David Douillet, French judo athlete
- David Dunn, English footballer
- David Eckstein, American baseball
- David Ferrer, Spanish tennis player
- David Foucault, Canadian gridiron football player
- David Freese, American baseball player
- David Ginola, French footballer
- David Gower, English cricketer
- David Gower, Australian Rugby league player
- David Greenwood, American basketball player
- David Hala, Australian Rugby League player
- David Healy, Northern Ireland international footballer
- Dave Hiscock, New Zealand professional motorcycle racer
- David Jack, English football manager
- David James, English footballer
- David Jarolím, Czech footballer
- David Kiefer, American basketball coach
- David Klemmer, Australian Rugby League player
- David Krejčí, Czech ice hockey player
- David Kushnir, Israeli Olympic long-jumper
- David Lane, Montserratian cricketer
- David Lee, American basketball player
- David Legwand, American professional ice hockey player
- David Lighty, American college basketball player
- David Lipsky, golfer
- David Logan, Polish basketball player
- David Long, multiple people
- David Lyons, American swimmer
- Dave Magadan, American baseball player
- David Mark Berger, American-born Israeli, Maccabiah champion ; killed by terrorists in the Munich Massacre
- David Marshall, goalkeeper playing for Cardiff City F.C.
- David McCray, German basketballer
- David McDuling, Australian Rugby Union player
- David Monasterio, Puerto Rican swimmer
- David Moore, multiple people
- David Montgomery , American football player
- David Moyes, Scottish football manager
- David Murphy, multiple people
- David N'Gog, French footballer
- David Nalbandian, Argentine tennis player
- David Neitz, Australian rules footballer
- David Nemirovsky, Canadian hockey right wing
- David Nesbitt, Bahamian basketball player
- David Njoku, American football player
- David Nofoaluma, Australian Rugby League player
- David O'Leary, Irish football manager
- David Odonkor, German footballer
- David Ortiz, Dominican baseball player
- David Pastrňák, Czech ice hockey player
- David Pender, American football players
- David Perron, Canadian ice hockey player
- David Pizarro, Chilean footballer
- David Pleat, English football manager Tottenham Hotspur, Luton Town)
- David Rhys-Jones, Australian rules footballer
- David Rittich, Czech ice hockey goaltender
- Dave Roberts, American major league baseball pitcher
- David Robinson, American former basketball player
- David Rundqvist, Swedish ice hockey player
- David Santee, American figure skater
- David Seaman, English football goalkeeper
- David Sharpe , American football player
- David Shaw , Stanford Cardinal football head coach
- David Shaw , Australian footballer
- David Shaw , Canadian football player
- David Shaw , English cricketer
- David Shaw , Australian scuba diver
- David Shaw, English footballer
- David Shaw , Canadian hockey player
- David Sills , American football player
- David Silva, Spanish footballer
- David Simmons , Australian rugby league player
- David Sosebee, former NASCAR Cup Series driver
- David Stagg, Australian Rugby League player
- Dave Stephens , American javelin thrower
- David Stephens,, English footballer
- Dave Stewart, Baseball pitcher
- David Stockdale, goalkeeper playing for Fulham
- David Suazo, Honduran footballer
- David Sullivan
- David Tabak, Israeli Olympic runner
- David Taylor, Welsh football player and coach
- David Trezeguet, French footballer
- David Tsebe, South African marathon runner
- David Tua, New Zealand heavy weight boxer
- David Tyshler, Soviet saber fencer
- David Villa, Spanish footballer
- David Wear, American basketball player
- David West, American basketball player
- David Williams , American football player
- David Wingate , American basketball player
- David Wharton, American butterfly and medley swimmer
- David Wright, American baseball player
Authors
- David Batstone, American journalist
- David S. Broder, political commentator for The Washington Post
- David Chase, American screenwriter
- David F. Dodge, American novelist
- David Eddings, American fantasy writer
- David Eggers, American writer, editor, and publisher
- David Fleming, English environmental writer
- David Frum, conservative Canadian-American political writer
- David Gerrold, science fiction novelist who wrote "The Trouble with Tribbles" episode of Star Trek
- David Hume, Scottish philosopher
- David Henry Hwang, American playwright
- David Indermaur, Australian criminologist, psychologist, and writer
- Dovid Kaplan, senior lecturer at Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem, popular author and speaker
- David Kroyanker, Israeli architectural historian
- David Lassman, British writer responsible for the 'Rejecting Jane' article about Jane Austen and co-author of The Regency Detective series of novels
- David Le Sage, Australian writer and Christian anti-war activist
- David Mamet, American playwright
- David Mills, American television writer and producer
- David Mitchell, British novelist
- David Adams Leeming, American philologist
- David Graham Phillips, American novelist and journalist
- David Rakoff, American essayist
- David Ricardo, British political economist
- David Sedaris, American essayist
- David Shaw, American journalist for the Los Angeles Times
- David Shore, Canadian writer and television producer
- David Simon, American author, journalist, and TV producer
- Henry David Thoreau, american writer and poet
- David C. Unger, American journalist
- David Unger, Guatemalan-American author and translator
- David Foster Wallace, American novelist and essayist
- David Woodard, American writer and conductor
Crime
- David Berkowitz, American Satanic serial killer and arsonist
- David J. Carpenter, American serial killer, rapist, kidnapper, and robber
- David Kalac, American convicted killer known for killing his girlfriend then posting pictures on 4chan
- David Koresh, American cult leader best known for 1993 Waco siege
- David Michael Krueger, Canadian serial killer, rapist, and necrophile
- David Ray Parker, American kidnapper, torturer, rapist, and suspected serial killer
- David Westerfield, American murderer of Danielle van Dam
Others
- David Álvarez
- David Brooks
- David Burritt, American businessman, CEO of U.S. Steel
- David Burroughs Mattingly, digital artist
- David Butts, from the Hooley Dooleys
- David Carnegie
- David Carson, graphic designer
- David Carritt, British art historian, dealer and critic
- David Carter CBE, British industrial designer and educator
- David Charlesworth, English Catholic abbot
- David Dimbleby, British TV commentator and presenter of current affairs and political programmes
- David Edwards, multiple people
- David Eppstein, American computer scientist
- David Evans
- David Feinstein, rabbi
- David Fincher, film director
- David Frost,, British broadcaster
- David Gest, American TV producer
- David Wark Griffith, film director
- David Hamilton, British photographer
- David Hatendi,, banker and Rhodes Scholar
- David Hayter, screenwriter and voice actor for Solid Snake
- David Hogg
- David Horler, father of Natalie Horler
- David H. Jarvis, captain in the United States Revenue Cutter Service
- David P. Levin, American filmmaker
- David Lichtenstein, American businessman
- David Lutsky, Vanderbilt University student
- David May
- David Meller, British businessman
- David Praporgescu, Romanian general in World War I
- David Rebibo, congregational rabbi and Jewish day school dean
- David Reimer, Canadian victim of a botched circumcision and transgender reassignment surgery
- David Russo
- David Saint-Jacques, Canadian astronaut
- David Sanders
- David Schwimmer , American banker, CEO of the London Stock Exchange Group
- David Shaw
- David Stephens
- David Talbot, founder of Salon.com Internet magazine
- David Toska, Norwegian bank robber
- David A. Unger, American literary and film talent agent
- David Vetter, the "Boy in the Bubble"
- David Willis, cartoonist
- David Woodard, American businessman
- David Yonggi Cho, Korean Christian minister
- David Zarifa, Canadian academic
Fictional characters
- David, a character in the Battle Arena Toshinden fighting game series
- David, real name of Solid Snake, protagonist of several Metal Gear video games
- David, the main character in the movie A.I. Artificial Intelligence
- David, a human character on Sesame Street from 1971 to 1989, played by Northern Calloway
- David of Sassoun, Armenian epic hero
- David the Gnome, title character in the Spanish animated TV series The World of David the Gnome
- David 8, an android in the Alien movie franchise
- David Aames, a character in the 2001 film Vanilla Sky
- Dr. David Banner, main character from TV series The Incredible Hulk
- David "Dave" Bowman, the protagonist of '
- David Brent, the protagonist of The Office
- David Copperfield, title character in the book of the same name by Charles Dickens
- David Fisher, one of the main characters from the HBO series Six Feet Under
- David Freeman, the main character in the movie Flight of the Navigator.
- David "Dave" Lister, main character of the British sitcom Red Dwarf
- David Marcus, Captain Kirk's son in movies ' and '
- David "Section" Mason, the main character in the first person shooter '
- David Nolan, character in ABC series Once Upon a Time
- David Platt, character in British soap opera Coronation Street
- David Rossi, a main character in the TV series Criminal Minds
- David Sarif, CEO of Sarif Industries in the game Deus Ex
- David "Dave" Seville, a main character in the Alvin and the Chipmunks series
- David Tarrant, a senior police chief at New Scotland Yard, London, England, from the Power of Five series
- David Telford, a recurring character in Stargate Universe
- David Tran, a character in four of the 54+ Animorphs books
- David "Dave" Turner, character in the TV series
- David Xanatos, one of the main antagonists, turned ally in the animated series, Gargoyles