# Dalton (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/dalton/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | English |
| Meaning | “valley”, “settlement” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈdɔltən/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Doulton |
| US babies named this | 86,142 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 85,710 / 432 (1% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,579, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Old English dæl (“valley”) + tun (“settlement”). Equivalent to dale + town.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 12 | 9,429 |
| 2007 | 13 | 9,141 |
| 2008 | 7 | 14,195 |
| 2009 | 11 | 10,140 |
| 2010 | 5 | 17,643 |
| 2012 | 7 | 13,833 |
| 2013 | 6 | 15,067 |
| 2014 | 7 | 13,413 |
| 2016 | 7 | 13,238 |
| 2018 | 5 | 16,259 |
| 2019 | 5 | 16,106 |
| 2020 | 8 | 11,329 |
| 2021 | 6 | 13,890 |
| 2024 | 6 | 13,880 |
| 2025 | 6 | 13,608 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,267 | 276 |
| 2012 | 1,232 | 285 |
| 2013 | 1,106 | 310 |
| 2014 | 1,118 | 312 |
| 2015 | 1,050 | 328 |
| 2016 | 1,050 | 328 |
| 2017 | 893 | 371 |
| 2018 | 799 | 397 |
| 2019 | 686 | 445 |
| 2020 | 638 | 464 |
| 2021 | 566 | 519 |
| 2022 | 574 | 516 |
| 2023 | 582 | 513 |
| 2024 | 732 | 433 |
| 2025 | 699 | 448 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 62 | 565 |
| 2012 | 48 | 695 |
| 2013 | 51 | 655 |
| 2014 | 73 | 520 |
| 2015 | 70 | 543 |
| 2016 | 60 | 597 |
| 2017 | 65 | 581 |
| 2018 | 74 | 531 |
| 2019 | 86 | 469 |
| 2020 | 68 | 544 |
| 2021 | 48 | 719 |
| 2022 | 50 | 679 |
| 2023 | 54 | 651 |
| 2024 | 85 | 468 |
| 2025 | 60 | 621 |

## People named Dalton

- Joseph Dalton Hooker, British botanist, lichenologist, and surgeon (1817–1911)
- Dalton Trumbo, American screenwriter (1905–1976)
- Dalton Vigh, Brazilian actor
- Dalton Knecht, American basketball player (born 2001)
- Dalton McGuinty, Canadian politician
- Dalton Jérson Trevisan, Brazilian writer (1925–2024)
- Dalton Grant, British athlete
- Dalton E Gray, American actor and television actor
- Dalton Baldwin, American musician (1931-2019)
- Dalton Castle, American professional and amateur wrestler
- Dalton Moreira Neto, Brazilian footballer and manager
- Dalton James, American actor

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.