Dillin
Of Irish origin, a diminutive form of Dillon, meaning "like a lion".
Name Census estimates that about 535 living Americans carry the first name Dillin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dillin today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dillin births was 1992 (42 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dillin. 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
535
~ 1 in 640,662 Americans
Peak year
1992
42 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2019 SSA rank
#12,643
Tracked since 1987
Census
Dillin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 539 people with the first name Dillin, which placed it at #19,554 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
#19,554
National first-name rank
People counted
539
539 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dillin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dillin is White at 73.5%. The next largest groups are Black (8.9%) and Hispanic (8.3%). 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 Dillin 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 Dillin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.5% · 396
- Black or African American8.9% · 48
- Hispanic or Latino8.3% · 45
- Two or more races6.7% · 36
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 7
Popularity
Dillin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dillin from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 250 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dillin 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 Dillin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dillins live
Origin
Meaning and history of Dillin
The name Dillin is believed to have originated from the Irish Gaelic language, with roots dating back to the early medieval period in Ireland. It is thought to be a variant spelling of the name Dillon, which itself is derived from the old Irish words "dil" meaning "loyal" or "faithful" and "uan" meaning "little."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dillin can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a historical chronicle compiled in the 17th century by Irish Franciscan monks. The annals mention a chieftain named Dillin Ua Fiachrach who lived in the 10th century and was a member of the Ua Fiachrach dynasty from County Sligo.
In medieval Ireland, the name Dillin was particularly popular among noble families and the Irish aristocracy. It is believed that the name was associated with traits such as loyalty, bravery, and honor, which were highly valued in Irish warrior culture.
One notable figure in Irish history who bore the name Dillin was Dillin Ó Móráin, a 12th-century Irish poet and scholar from County Tipperary. He was renowned for his poetic works, which celebrated the exploits of Irish kings and chieftains.
Another historical figure with the name Dillin was Dillin Ó Conchubhair, a 14th-century Irish nobleman and military leader who fought against the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland. He was a member of the powerful O'Conor dynasty and is remembered for his resistance against English rule.
In the 16th century, a Scottish nobleman named Dillin Cameron was a prominent figure in the Scottish Highlands. He was a member of the Clan Cameron and is believed to have been a faithful supporter of the Stuart monarchy during the Scottish Wars of Independence.
The name Dillin has also been recorded in various forms throughout history, such as Dillion, Dillian, and Dillane, particularly in areas with strong Irish cultural influences, such as parts of the British Isles and North America.
People
Dillin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dillin 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
Dillin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dillin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 535 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dillin 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 640,662 US residents.
Is Dillin a common name?
We classify Dillin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 545 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dillin most popular?
The single biggest year for Dillin was 1992, when 42 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dillin is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dillin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 539 people with the name Dillin, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,554 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 Dillin 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 Dillin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dillin leans strongly male. 523 people counted with this name were male (97.8%), compared with 12 female bearers (2.2%). 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 Dillin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dillin is White at 73.5%. The next largest groups are Black (8.9%) and Hispanic (8.3%). 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 Dillin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Dillin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.5% (396 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 Dillin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dillin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dillin 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 Dillin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dillin 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 Dillin 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 have the name Dillin?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.