boy's name
Dalton
DAWL-ten
- Origin English
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 90,834
the United States
#448
2025 births
Dalton means the settlement in the valley, and Northern Ireland ranks it 305th — above the United States at 448th, which is unexpected for a name whose modern use is almost entirely American. We record 87,830 lifetime births for it, strongest in Northern Ireland.
- Dalton is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1998, when 4,590 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 4,703 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1881.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Dalton over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 25 |
| 1890s | 63 |
| 1900s | 109 |
| 1910s | 783 |
| 1920s | 1,484 |
| 1930s | 1,426 |
| 1940s | 1,252 |
| 1950s | 1,015 |
| 1960s | 831 |
| 1970s | 691 |
| 1980s | 1,589 |
| 1990s | 36,169 |
| 2000s | 26,313 |
| 2010s | 10,575 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 3,817 |
What Dalton means
Dalton means the valley settlement, or the farm in the dale. The Old English joins dæl, a valley, to tun, an enclosure or farmstead, so the name describes terrain and occupation together.
Where Dalton comes from
Dalton is an English place name from dæl, a valley or dale, joined to tun, a farmstead — and there are Daltons across the north of England, where the Norse dalr reinforced the same word. John Dalton gave his name to atomic theory and to daltonism, the older term for color blindness, which he described from his own case in 1794 — the first scientific account of it. The tun ending is the ancestor of the modern town.
Dalton in use
Dalton peaked in the United States in 1998, when 4,590 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 305th in Northern Ireland on 5 births, 448th in the United States on 700, 619th in Scotland on 5, 621st in England and Wales on 66 and 676th in Ireland on 5, across 90,834 lifetime births in six of the seven markets we track.
How popular is Dalton?
In 2025, Dalton was given to 705 babies in the United States, ranking #448 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Dalton is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Dalton
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Dalton also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Dalton over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Dalton in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Delton
Sibling names for Dalton
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Dalton — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Dalton
What does the name Dalton mean?
The settlement in the valley — dæl, a dale, joined to tun, a farmstead.
Is it connected to atomic theory?
Through John Dalton, who also gave his name to daltonism after describing his own color blindness in 1794.
Where is Dalton most used?
Northern Ireland at 305th, above the United States at 448th.
How popular is Dalton?
448th in the United States, down from a 1998 peak of 4,590 births.
Is Dalton a girl's or a boy's name?
Dalton is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Dalton?
Dalton has 2 syllables.
Is Dalton a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Dalton currently ranks #305 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.