Proper noun

1. A diminutive of the male given name David.
   • 1994 Caroline Knapp, The Merry Recluse: A Life in Essays, Counterpoint Press 2004, ISBN 1582433135, page 169, 170:

     David, with its final "d", sounds finished and complete, whereas Dave just kind of hangs there in the air, indefinitely. - - - Worse, if your name is Dave, the only possible nickname is "Davey", which makes you sound like you should be wearing a coonskin cap.