Dillen
Variant of Dylan, a masculine Welsh name meaning "Great sea".
Name Census estimates that about 735 living Americans carry the first name Dillen. It is a predominantly male name (92.5% of registrations). The average person named Dillen today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dillen births was 2003 (59 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dillen. 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
735
~ 1 in 466,332 Americans
Peak year
2003
59 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2023 SSA rank
#12,686
Tracked since 1991
Gender
Gender distribution for Dillen
Dillen leans heavily male at 92.5% of total registrations, but 56 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Dillen as a male name
- Ranked #12,686 in 2023
- 5 male births in 2023
- Peak: 2003 (40 births)
Dillen as a female name
- Ranked #18,395 in 2007
- 5 female births in 2007
- Peak: 2003 (19 births)
Popularity
Dillen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dillen 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 362 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
Dillen 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 Dillen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dillens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Indiana, Ohio recorded the most babies named Dillen, while Texas, Ohio, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dillen
The name Dillen is a variant of the English name Dylan, which has its origins in the Welsh language. The Welsh name Dylân is a diminutive form of the Welsh elements "dil" meaning "great" or "famous" and "ân" meaning "born of" or "descendant of." The name Dylân first appeared in the Welsh Triads, a collection of traditional stories and folk tales from the Middle Ages.
The name Dillen is believed to have emerged as a spelling variation of Dylan, particularly among English-speaking populations. One of the earliest recorded instances of this spelling can be found in the book "The Peerage of England" by John Philipot, published in 1625, which mentions a person named "Dillen ap Edred."
In the 16th century, a notable figure named Dillen Petty (born around 1530) was a Welsh poet and member of the Gorsedd, a community of Welsh poets and scholars. His works were preserved in the manuscript collection known as the "Red Book of Hergest."
Another historical figure with the name Dillen was Dillen Williams (1656-1712), a Welsh clergyman and author who served as the Rector of Llanbedr-Dyffryn-Clwyd in Denbighshire, Wales. He published several religious works, including a translation of the Book of Common Prayer into Welsh.
In the 19th century, Dillen Woolcott (1804-1872) was an English architect who designed several notable buildings in London, including the Church of St. Barnabas in Pimlico and the Royal Philharmonic Hall.
More recently, Dillen Malik (1922-2002) was a Pakistani military officer and diplomat who served as the Ambassador of Pakistan to several countries, including the United States and the Soviet Union.
While the name Dillen is relatively uncommon, it has a rich history rooted in Welsh culture and has been borne by notable figures throughout the centuries, particularly in Wales, England, and parts of the British Isles.
People
Dillen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dillen 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
Dillen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dillen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 735 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dillen 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 466,332 US residents.
Is Dillen a common name?
We classify Dillen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 747 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dillen most popular?
The single biggest year for Dillen was 2003, when 59 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dillen is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Dillen a male name?
Yes, 92.5% of people registered as Dillen 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.
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.