Dalziel
A Scottish surname that likely means "the dale" or "valley dweller".
Name Census estimates that about 12 living Americans carry the first name Dalziel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dalziel today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dalziel births was 2006 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dalziel. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Dalziel with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Dalziel. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
12
~ 1 in 28,562,862 Americans
Peak year
2006
6 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2008 SSA rank
#11,348
Tracked since 2006
Popularity
Dalziel: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Dalziel 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 Dalziel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 12 | 0 | 12 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Dalziel
The name Dalziel is believed to have originated from the Scottish Borders region, derived from the Gaelic words 'dail' meaning 'field' and 'siol' meaning 'seed' or 'descendants'. It likely emerged as a surname in the Middle Ages, referring to someone who lived near or worked on a field or farm.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dalziel dates back to the 13th century, when a man named William de Dalzell was mentioned in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, a historical record of Scottish nobles who pledged allegiance to King Edward I of England during the Wars of Scottish Independence.
In the 16th century, the Dalziels were a prominent Scottish family, with several members holding important positions in the Scottish court and military. One notable figure was Robert Dalzell, who served as Lord Privy Seal of Scotland under King James VI in the late 1500s.
During the 17th century, the name Dalziel gained further recognition through the exploits of General Thomas Dalyell (1615-1685), a Scottish military leader who fought for the Royalist cause during the English Civil War and later served as Commander-in-Chief of the Scottish Army.
Another significant figure was John Dalziel (1776-1842), a Scottish naval officer and explorer who served in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and later led several expeditions to the Arctic regions in search of the Northwest Passage.
In the literary world, the name Dalziel is associated with the Scottish author James Dalziel (1835-1901), who wrote several novels and short stories depicting life in rural Scotland during the 19th century.
Other notable individuals with the name Dalziel include Andrew Dalziel (1847-1919), a Scottish painter and illustrator known for his work in children's literature, and Archibald Dalziel (1863-1931), a Scottish businessman and philanthropist who made significant contributions to education and healthcare in his hometown of Edinburgh.
People
Dalziel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dalziel 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
Dalziel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dalziel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dalziel 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 28,562,862 US residents.
Is Dalziel a common name?
We classify Dalziel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 32.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dalziel most popular?
The single biggest year for Dalziel was 2006, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dalziel is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Dalziel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dalziel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dalziel 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 Dalziel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dalziel 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 Dalziel 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Dalziel?
See how many people share the name Dalziel on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.