English
The surname D'Eye of English origin. It is a English pet form of the name David, which signifies 'beloved'. David, the biblical king so named, was the greatest of the early kings of Israel. Within the Bible the name is given to no one except the great king of Israel. His prominence, and the vivid narrative of his life contained in the first book of Samuel, led to the adoption of his name on a limited scale amongst Christians throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. The friendship of David and Jonathon ( Sam.18:1-4 ) was proverbial, adding significance to the name. Its popularity within Engand is due to it being the name of the patron saint of Wales and that it was borne by two kings of Scotland ( David 1, reigned 1124-53, and David 2, 1329-71 ). The given name is ancient and dates back to biblical times; it may have been Dodo, a title of the Sun God. The surname Day may also be derived from the Middle English given name 'Day', itself apparently derived from the Old English 'doeg', day, this may be a short form of the Old English personal names 'Doegberht', and 'Doegmund'. The Irish have used the name as an anglicization of the Gaelic name O'Deaghaidh; this Gaelic name is composed of the elements 'deagh', good and 'adh', luck, fate. The name dates as far back as the twelfth century were a Walter le Daye is recorded in historical archives. One of the first forebears to bring this name to America is that of a Robert Day, who sailed from Ipswich on the barque Elizabeth, April 1634, he settled firstly at Cambridge, Massachusetts, and later at Hartford,Connecticut; of which town he was a founder. It is the two hundredth and twenty-ninth most common