Davies
also Davis
Son of David — born of the patron saint's name and densest in his own corner of Wales.
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CoreHistoric reach
The seat of Davies
Seat vacantChief
No chief yet. The seat awaits its first claimant — be the first to stake your name to Davies.
Current mission
No mission proclaimed. The chief, once seated, sets the clan’s public focus — a campaign, a contest, a piece of restoration, a year of remembrance.
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Stake your name →What does the Davies name mean?
Son of David. The patronymic 'ap Dafydd' — son of David — compressed into a single surname under the Tudor administration; the genitive 's' added in the English fashion. David is the patron saint of Wales (Dewi Sant, c.500–589), founder of the monastery at St Davids in Pembrokeshire, and his name has been the most-given male name in Wales for fifteen centuries.
The history of Davies
Davies is the third most common Welsh surname. Its centre of gravity is the south-west — Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire — the country that surrounds St Davids itself, where the cult of the patron saint embedded the name most deeply for the longest.
The variant 'Davis' became more common among the families that emigrated to North America in the colonial period, and is the dominant spelling in the United States; Davies remained the standard in Wales. Both descend from the same patronymic mechanic.
The 19th-century Welsh industrial diaspora carried the name into the coalfields of Pennsylvania and the iron towns of Ohio, where Davies and Davis chapels are scattered through every county that took Welsh labour.
Notable bearers of the Davies name
- W. H. Davies (1871–1940) — Newport-born poet of 'Leisure' and the Autobiography of a Super-Tramp
- Andrew Davies (b. 1936) — screenwriter (Pride and Prejudice, House of Cards)
- Russell T Davies (b. 1963) — television writer (Doctor Who, Queer as Folk)
Frequently asked
What does the surname Davies mean?
Where does the Davies family come from?
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Is Davis the same family as Davies?
Neighbouring clans
- JonesSon of John — and roughly one in twenty Welsh-descended people in the world.
- ThomasThe fifth Welsh surname — son of Thomas, on the same Tudor-era road as Jones and Williams.
- ReesFrom Rhys — the name of the most consequential prince of 12th-century Wales.
- HerbertMarcher house of Pembroke and Raglan — the bridge between the Welsh gentry and the Tudor court.