Feminine form of David, from Hebrew 'dawid' meaning 'beloved' or 'dear one'.
Davida is a feminine form of David, the great Hebrew name meaning 'beloved' or, according to some scholars, 'uncle' or 'kinsman' — though the 'beloved' interpretation has dominated tradition. The name David itself is one of the most consequential in Western religious history: King David of Israel, the shepherd boy who slew Goliath and became Israel's greatest monarch, the warrior-poet credited with the Psalms, the ancestor of the Davidic line from which the Messiah was prophesied to come. His name became sacred across Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, ensuring its perpetual use across three millennia and vast geographies.
Feminine forms of David have appeared across different cultures — Davina in Scotland, Davide in some Romance languages, Vida as a shortened form — but Davida represents one of the most direct feminizations, simply adding the Latin and Hebrew feminine suffix *-a* to the root. The form was used sporadically in England and the United States from at least the eighteenth century, appearing in Quaker and Nonconformist records with some frequency, communities that favored biblical names of both genders and were not averse to feminizing masculine scripture names. It was also used in Jewish communities as a feminine equivalent for a family naming tradition honoring a male ancestor named David.
Davida never achieved mass popularity, which has kept it feeling distinctive rather than dated. Its three clean syllables — da-VEE-da — give it a lyrical quality, and the strong central vowel lends it a warmth that more severe biblical feminizations sometimes lack. For families with a David to honor or a connection to the Hebrew tradition of 'beloved,' Davida offers a quietly beautiful way to carry that meaning forward in a form that remains relatively uncommon in any era.