The 15 Best Davids

David is a Hebrew name that means “beloved.” These Davids are surely beloved:

15. Dave Rawlings
Gillian Welch’s secret weapon is a mindblowingly good guitar player and songwriter.

14. David Sedaris
His clever writing and self-deprecating humor got millions of Americans reading essay collections. Which reminds me: It’s December, time to read Holidays On Ice again.

13. David Simon
He created The Wire, one of the best television shows of all time.

12. David Eugene Edwards
As Josh Jackson once said this David (of 16 Horsepower) was freak-folk before freak-folk was cool.

11. Dave Grohl
He’s one of the greatest rock drummers ever. And if you ask me, drummers don’t get enough credit.

10. David Bazan
We called the Pedro the Lion frontman one of the best living songwriters, and his new solo CD did us proud.

9. David Brent
“I suppose I’ve created an atmosphere here where I’m a friend first, boss second. Probably an entertainer third.”

8. Dave Chappelle
Dave Chappelle is fearless. Chappelle’s Show featured some of the smartest, boldest sketch comedy on TV, and his stand-up is fantastic too.

7. David Byrne
Talking Heads was a truly great American band with a truly great name.

6. David Foster Wallace
He was a genius triple-threat who wrote short fiction, long fiction and non-fiction with tremendous force and surprising heart.

5. David Robinson
“The Admiral” led the San Antonio Spurs to 2 NBA championships and was part of 2 Olympic gold medal winning teams—proving that 7-footers can be athletic and that nice guys sometimes do finish first.

4. Dave Eggers
From his fantastic books to his publishing house McSweeney’s to his charity work, everything this Dave touches turns to something we want to read.

3. David Bowie
I don’t need to explain this one, right?

2. King David
You might know him as a musician, poet, soldier, king, shepherd and prophet from a little book called The Bible.

1. David After Dentist
Poor little guy made millions of people laugh after he went to the oral surgeon and had an existential crisis on the way home.