What is "davies"

Davies is a spelling variation of the patronymic Welsh surname Davis, that means David, a Hebrew name meaning "beloved". Davies is much associated with Wales, owing to the name of its patron saint, David, and where it is correctly pronounced "DAY-viss" (the "e" being silent), unlike in many other parts of the English speaking world where its correct pronunciation has been lost. It is derived from the original Welsh name "Dafis" where the "f" is sounded like a "v", once again: "Day-viss". Davies is also fairly widespread in the south-west of England, especially Cornwall. Davies is the 2nd most common surname in Wales and 8th most common in England. It is not common in the United States where the spelling, Davis, is preferred.

Notable people with the surname include:

Davies is a crater on Mars located at 46°N 0°E on the fringe of Acidalia Planitia near Arabia Terra. It is approximately 48 km in diameter. The crater's name was formally approved by the IAU in 2006.

It was named in honor of Merton Davies (1917-2001), a pioneer in the cartography of planetary bodies. An employee of the Rand Corporation, he assisted NASA in mapping Mars with colleagues Gérard de Vaucouleurs and Harold Masursky and defined the prime meridian of Mars as passing through the crater Airy-0. Davies lies on the prime meridian, appropriate because Davies was principally responsible for its delineation.

Crater.jpg|Davies Crater, as seen by MTO's CTX.