This distinguished surname, with no less than twenty Coats of Arms, and several notable entries in the "Dictionary of National Biography", is a patronymic form of the male given name David, itself coming from the Hebrew "Dodaveha" meaning "Beloved of Jehovah". This name was borne by the greatest of the early kings of Israel, which led to its popularity first among the Jews, and later among Christians throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. In Britain, the popularity of the personal name was increased due to the ame of St.
David, 6th Century Bishop of Menevia, who became patron saint of Wales, and also as a result of its having been borne by two kings of Scotland: David 1, who reigned from 1124 to 1153, and David 11 (1329 - 1371). One David clericus, recorded in Documents relating to the Danelaw, Lincolnshire, dated 1150, is one of the earliest recorded bearers of the personal name in England. The patronymic first emerges in the early 14th Century (see below), and in 1402, a Richard Davys was entered in the Register of the Freemen of the City of York. Richard Barrett Davis (1782 - 1852) was animal painter to William 1V, and Sir John Francis Davis, chief superintendent of British trade in China, was made K.C.B. in 1854. The Coat of Arms most associated with the name is a silver shield with a chevron pean, in base a black lion rampant, a chief indented of the last, and a canton ermines. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Dauisse, which was dated 1327, in the "Subsidy Rolls of Cambridgeshire", during the reign of King Edward 111, known as "The Father of the Navy", 1327 - 1377. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
The origin, the coat of arms or the different heraldic shields, and the bibliography in which the surname davis is mentioned are part of this exciting investigation. We can try to trace the genealogy of the surname davis, and in addition to the original locations of davis, we can find out where people with the surname davis can currently be found.
The list of countries with a higher presence of people with the surname davis provides us with a perspective on the history of the surname, beyond its origins, focusing on its migrations. The mobility of people carrying the surname davis has led to its presence in different countries, as you can verify.
For those like you, who are interested in the history hidden behind the surname davis, it is essential to find all kinds of information, both direct and tangential, that helps to construct a solid narrative of how the birth and expansion of davis developed. The history, heraldry, coats of arms, and possible nobility of the surname davis are scattered in documents across various regions and historical periods, so it is necessary to reconstruct a complex puzzle to approach the facts from a realistic perspective.
We keep our website updated through our own research and also thanks to contributions from people like you, after verification; so if you have information about davis and send it to us, we will update it on this website. Please note that if you are in a position to provide more data about the surname davis or any other surname and its origin, we would appreciate your collaboration with us by sending us information about the origin of davis.
Sadly, not all the contributions of those who bore the surname davis were recorded by the chroniclers of the time. A surname like davis can connect a person to an illustrious lineage and a distinguished coat of arms. However, it must be kept in mind that it is individual people who, through their lives and actions, bring fame and recognition to their surnames.
The origin, history, coat of arms or different coats of arms, and the heraldry of davis are recorded in a wide variety of sources and documents that are essential to know for better compilation. We consider it highly advisable to refer to the following sources if you wish to conduct research on the surname davis, as well as many other surnames.
These sources are essential for initiating the understanding of davis, and at the same time, of surnames in general.