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At a Glance: Name: Day – Meaning: unsettled: variously explained as a medieval diminutive of David, an old word for a 'day-laborer', a Norse-derived personal name (cognate with 'Dag'), or an anglicized Irish name meaning roughly 'descendant of Good Luck' – Origin: English/Irish (surname, multiple competing origins) – Gender: used for both boys and girls – Pronunciation: DAY
Day is an English and Irish surname turned first name, and its backstory doesn't settle on one story: it's been traced as a medieval short form of David, an old term for a day-laborer, a Norse-derived name related to 'Dag,' and an anglicized Irish surname meaning roughly 'descendant of Good Luck.' You may run across the claim that Day simply means 'family of David' — that's only one of those competing origins, not an agreed-upon fact. If you like Day, you're picking a name with a genuinely open history rather than a single tidy meaning.
Meaning & Origin of Day
Meaning: Unsettled: variously explained as a medieval diminutive of David, an old word for a 'day-laborer', a Norse-derived personal name (cognate with 'Dag'), or an anglicized Irish name meaning roughly 'descendant of Good Luck'.
Origin: English/Irish (surname, multiple competing origins).
A common claim: Day means 'family of David' Actually: 'Family of David' is only one of several competing explanations. Day has also been traced to an old word for a day-laborer, a Norse-derived name cognate with 'Dag,' and an anglicized Irish surname meaning roughly 'descendant of Good Luck.'
Source: Wiktionary.
How to Pronounce Day
Phonetic: DAY IPA: /deɪ/
Popularity of Day
Day has stayed rare in U.S. birth records from 1915 to 2022, peaking at #3148 in 1932 with 7 babies given the name and sitting at #11182 in 2022 with just 6.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration birth-name data, 1915–2022.
Make Day Name Art
Free printable nursery art for Day, pre-loaded below — pick a layout, palette, and font, then download a print-ready PNG.
Names With a Similar Story
Derived from shared style, era, and origin data (or, for names we have no style data for, a similar Social Security popularity trajectory) — not a hand-picked list.
FAQ
What does the name Day mean?
Unsettled: variously explained as a medieval diminutive of David, an old word for a ‘day-laborer’, a Norse-derived personal name (cognate with ‘Dag’), or an anglicized Irish name meaning roughly ‘descendant of Good Luck’. (Source: Wiktionary, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Day)
How do you pronounce Day?
Day is pronounced DAY (IPA: /deɪ/).
Is Day a popular name right now?
Day peaked at #3148 in 1932 and is ranked #11182 as of 2022. (U.S. Social Security Administration data, 1915–2022.)
📊 How popular is Day? See the full popularity history, trend data, and ranking since 1880 with our free Baby Name Popularity Checker.
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