Who decides name meanings?

For example, how did the name David come to mean "beloved"?

Who decides name meanings?
There is no group of people that assign meanings to names. However, some people study a names' etymology -- the study of human names and their meanings is called Anthroponomastics. To find out more about this check out the link provided in the source section.





Most names originate from words, and all words have meanings. Their meaning is not apparent to us because the names have been passed down through the centuries. In that time languages change and people use names that aren't of their ethnic background/language.





Back in the day many names described occupations, personal and physical characteristics. A David might have been named so because he really was beloved by his parents (David originates from the Hebrew word 'dvd', which means 'beloved'). I see it as the same thing as people naming their children things like Faith and Grace. We know the meaning of these names. But what if our language undergoes significant change over, say, the next six hundred years... people might still be using the name Faith, but have no idea what it means.
Reply:The other people are wrong. Names have their bases in the languages they originated from... scholars did not sit around and randomly assign meanings to sounds. Pleasant words in other languages became names for people; for example, "David" comes from Hebrew.





Last names come from family's professions or locations, most often; for example, someone whose last name is "Potter" had a relative somewhere back who was a sculpter or potter, hence the name.





If you are interested in where names and words come from, there is a study dedicated to it called etymology, or where words and names originate. It's very interesting!
Reply:Mostly scholars, ones who had alot of time on their hands, and just decided one day, that people would like to know names %26amp; the meanings!I truly love the name David,Daniel., theologians(people who study the Bible, and the names.
Reply:nobody decides them they're evolved from different languages - ancient greek, latin, hebrew, modern european languages etc..
Reply:i think that modern names are words from other languages, meaning "beloved" and other such nonsense! :)
Reply:becuase in whatever origin/ language david comes from.. david actually does mean beloved.



Reply:David is derived from a Hebrew word that means "beloved".
Reply:Thats really interesting





I don't know though
Reply:umm...i dont know..but thats a good question...