デイビッド
Your name
David
in Japanese
The default way to write David in Japanese is デイビッド — a phonetic katakana spelling that captures the sound and signals, instantly to a Japanese reader, that the name comes from elsewhere. But katakana is only one of three answers Japanese gives to a foreign name.
Below, we show all three. First the official katakana. Then a set of meaning kanji chosen to express what David actually means at the root — Beloved; dearly loved (from Hebrew דָּוִד, Dāwīḏ). Finally a set of ateji, the playful tradition where the kanji match the sound and tell their own small story underneath.
Katakana — Phonetic
How David is most commonly written in Japanese — used on official documents, business cards, and signage.
Meaning Kanji — Etymology
"David" means: Beloved; dearly loved (from Hebrew דָּוִד, Dāwīḏ)
愛慈
Aiji
愛 (ai) = love, affection; 慈 (ji) = compassion, mercy — together expressing 'beloved one' through affectionate compassion
親愛
Shin'ai
親 (shin) = dear, intimate, close; 愛 (ai) = love — literally 'dearly loved,' a direct rendering of the name's Hebrew meaning
恋寿
Renju
恋 (ren) = romantic love, longing; 寿 (ju) = longevity, blessing — 'one whose belovedness brings long life and good fortune'
Ateji — Sound + Meaning
Where the sound matches and the kanji tell their own small story. The Edo scholars and modern manga authors both played this game.
出美土
Deibido
出 (de) = to emerge, appear; 美 (bi) = beauty; 土 (do) = earth, soil — 'beauty rising from the earth,' a grounded and mystical image
禰飛人
Deibito
禰 (dei) = ancestral shrine; 飛 (bi) = to fly, soar; 人 (to) = person — 'a person who soars from sacred origins,' mystical and noble
出威戸
Deido
出 (de) = emerge; 威 (i) = dignity, majesty; 戸 (do) = gate, door — 'majesty emerging from the gateway,' a cool and heroic image
Not sure which form to use?
Katakana, meaning kanji, and ateji each belong to a different part of Japanese life — official paperwork, calligraphy and gifts, signatures and wordplay. Our full guide walks through when to reach for each one.
Read the guide: the three ways to write your name in Japanese →
Seven, drawn