Davies
A masculine name of Welsh origin meaning "son of David".
Name Census estimates that about 21 living Americans carry the first name Davies. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Davies today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Davies births was 1919 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Davies. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Davies with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Davies. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
21
~ 1 in 16,321,635 Americans
Peak year
1919
7 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2019 SSA rank
#12,590
Tracked since 1919
Census
Davies in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 198 people with the first name Davies, which placed it at #38,638 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#38,638
National first-name rank
People counted
198
198 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
41.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Davies
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Davies is Black at 41.4%. The next largest groups are White (31.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Davies described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Davies at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American41.4% · 82
- White31.3% · 62
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.6% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino11.1% · 22
- Two or more races3.0% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 3
Popularity
Davies: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Davies from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 11 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1940s peak, Davies remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Davies by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Davies during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Davies
The name Davies originated from the Welsh culture, specifically from the Welsh word "Dafydd," which is the Welsh form of the biblical name David. This name has its roots in the Hebrew language, derived from the word "Davidī," meaning "beloved."
The name David has a rich history, appearing in the Old Testament of the Bible as the name of the famous king of Israel, known for his exploits against Goliath and his reign over the united kingdom of Israel and Judah. The name's popularity can be attributed to its biblical significance and association with this iconic figure.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Davies can be traced back to the 12th century, when it was used as a patronymic surname in Wales. Patronymic surnames were derived from a father's given name, and in this case, Davies would have meant "son of David" or "David's son."
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Davies. One of the most famous was John Davies (1565-1618), a Welsh poet and writer who is considered one of the most influential figures in Welsh literature. His works, such as "Rhagymadroddion y Bibl Cyssegr-lan" (Introductions to the Holy Bible), played a significant role in preserving and promoting the Welsh language.
Another prominent figure with the name Davies was Miles Davies (1926-1991), an American jazz musician and composer, widely regarded as one of the most influential and innovative figures in the history of jazz. He is known for his contributions to the development of cool jazz, modal jazz, and jazz fusion.
In the realm of science, we have David Davies (1856-1950), a Welsh geologist who made significant contributions to the understanding of glacial geology and the study of glaciers. His work on the Quaternary period and his book "A Treatise on Metalliferous Minerals and Mining" are considered seminal works in their respective fields.
Moving into the 20th century, we have David Davies (1870-1944), a Welsh politician and industrialist who served as the Secretary of State for War during World War I. He played a crucial role in the organization and mobilization of British forces during the war.
Lastly, we have the contemporary figure of David Davies (born 1972), a British businessman and the executive chairman of the Wizards of the Coast, a company known for publishing popular games like Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons.
People
Davies + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Davies as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Davies: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Davies?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Davies going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 16,321,635 US residents.
Is Davies a common name?
We classify Davies as "Very Rare". It ranks above 40.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 40 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Davies most popular?
The single biggest year for Davies was 1919, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Davies is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Davies in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 198 people with the name Davies, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,638 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Davies in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Davies?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Davies leans strongly male. 163 people counted with this name were male (86.2%), compared with 26 female bearers (13.8%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Davies?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Davies is Black at 41.4%. The next largest groups are White (31.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Davies most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Davies in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.4% (82 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Davies in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Davies a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Davies in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Davies still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Davies in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Davies can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Davies?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.