Dallyn
Celtic name of uncertain meaning, possibly derived from a word meaning "valley".
Name Census estimates that about 243 living Americans carry the first name Dallyn. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 87.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Dallyn today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dallyn births was 2003 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dallyn. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
243
~ 1 in 1,410,512 Americans
Peak year
2003
17 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2022 SSA rank
#9,168
Tracked since 1992
Census
Dallyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 273 people with the first name Dallyn, which placed it at #31,391 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#31,391
National first-name rank
People counted
273
273 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dallyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dallyn is White at 74.7%. The next largest groups are Black (8.8%) and Hispanic (8.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Dallyn described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Dallyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.7% · 204
- Black or African American8.8% · 24
- Hispanic or Latino8.8% · 24
- Two or more races4.4% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.9% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Dallyn
Dallyn leans heavily male at 87.0% of total registrations, but 32 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Dallyn as a male name
- Ranked #9,168 in 2022
- 8 male births in 2022
- Peak: 2003 (17 births)
Dallyn as a female name
- Ranked #12,424 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2013 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Dallyn on both sides of the split. Of the 276 people counted with this name, 204 were male (73.9%) and 72 were female (26.1%).
Popularity
Dallyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dallyn from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 113 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dallyn by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Dallyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dallyns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Dallyn
The name Dallyn is a relatively modern invention, believed to have originated in the late 20th century. It is likely derived from the Old English word "dæl," meaning "valley" or "dale." The suffix "-lyn" is a common diminutive ending, often used to create feminine names or nicknames.
While the name Dallyn does not have a long historical record, it may have been inspired by similar-sounding names from various cultures and languages. For instance, the name Dallin is an English surname derived from the Old Norse name Dálinn, meaning "from the valley." Additionally, the French name Dalene and the German name Dalen share similarities in their root words and meanings.
Despite its relatively recent origins, the name Dallyn has been borne by a few notable individuals throughout history. One of the earliest recorded instances is Dallyn Vail Baugh (1887-1964), an American educator and author who served as the president of the University of Southern Mississippi from 1934 to 1955.
Another early bearer of the name was Dallyn Watkins Mallory (1892-1975), an American lawyer and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Florida from 1937 to 1953.
Dallyn Randolph (1934-2003) was an American actor and writer best known for his roles in several television series, including "The Fugitive" and "Gunsmoke."
Dallyn Lynne Hill (born 1976) is an American singer-songwriter and actress who rose to fame as a member of the R&B group Sistah Rocker in the late 1990s.
Dallyn Layton (born 1988) is an American professional basketball player who has played in various leagues, including the NBA G League and overseas leagues.
While the name Dallyn may not have a rich historical tapestry like many ancient names, its modern origins and unique sound have contributed to its growing popularity in recent decades. As a relatively new name, its cultural significance and associations are still being shaped by those who bear it.
People
Dallyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dallyn as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Dallyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dallyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 243 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dallyn going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,410,512 US residents.
Is Dallyn a common name?
We classify Dallyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 246 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dallyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Dallyn was 2003, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dallyn is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dallyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 273 people with the name Dallyn, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,391 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Dallyn in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Dallyn?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Dallyn on both sides of the split. Of the 276 people counted with this name, 204 were male (73.9%) and 72 were female (26.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Dallyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dallyn is White at 74.7%. The next largest groups are Black (8.8%) and Hispanic (8.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Dallyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Dallyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.7% (204 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Dallyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dallyn a male name?
Yes, 87.0% of people registered as Dallyn in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Dallyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dallyn in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Dallyn can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Dallyn?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.