MEANING & HISTORY
What does Dov mean?
Dov is a Hebrew personal name taken from the word dov, bear. It belongs to an established animal-name tradition.
Strength is a natural cultural association with the animal, but bear is the direct linguistic meaning. The short name should not be expanded into a different English name simply because it is unfamiliar or brief.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
A dictionary pronunciation or syllable division has not been verified for this exact spelling. Use the synthetic reading as a starting point and confirm the intended pronunciation with the family.
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
EnglishEtymology & source
Hebrew דוב (dov, “bear”)
A male given name of Hebrew usage.
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Dov
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Dov Cariño
Filipino association football player
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Wikidata
1
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Dov Cariño
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Dov in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Dov
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Don♂Short form of Donald
- Doug♂Short form of Douglas: dark river
- Dolly♀Affectionate form of Dorothy or Dolores
- Donah♀Variant of Donna; an Italian lady-word connection
- Donna♀Lady or woman, from Italian
- Doris♀Dorian woman
- Doyle♂Surname from the Irish Ó Dubhghaill family
- Domeng♂Of the Lord, through Domingo
What rhymes with Dov?
No dictionary-confirmed rhyme match is available for this spelling in the current catalogue.
Explore Dov further
Follow the sources
- Wikidata given-name item Q19967497 — Dov (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Dov Cariño (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q19967497 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Dov (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary: Dov (opens in a new tab)
Personal-name formation and etymological relationships; imported dictionary account consulted.