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.
1994, Caroline Knapp, The Merry Recluse: A Life in Essays, Counterpoint Press, published 2004, pages 169, 170