Given name & surname
Dalton
“from the town in the valley”
Dalton is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “from the town in the valley.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “from the town in the valley.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
How it developed
From Old English dæl (“valley”), built from English dale + town.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1881. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Dalton through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 86,142
- 85,710 boys · 432 girls
- Most popular year
- 1998
- 4,590 babies
- 2025
- 705
- #448 for boys · #13,608 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −22%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 699 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 448 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 22.5% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 4,565 in 1998. It also appeared in 6 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (47). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 68,878 as a first name in 2020; 48,924 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Dalton’s family of names
Dalton has a related form in Daulton. Dalton has a related form in Dalten. Dalton has a related form in Daltyn.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 28
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Dalltonvariant
- Daultonvariant
- Daltynvariant
- Daltinvariant
- Daltanvariant
- Daltenvariant
- Dalttonlikely variant
- Daltonnlikely variant
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Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
People named Dalton
- Dalton TrumboAmerican screenwriter (1905–1976)
- Dalton TagelagiNew Zealand politician, Premier of Niue (born 1968)
- Dalton VighBrazilian actorborn 1964
- Dalton KnechtAmerican basketball player (born 2001)
- Dalton McGuintyCanadian politicianborn 1955
- Dalton TrevisanBrazilian writer (1925–2024)
- Dalton GrantBritish athleteborn 1966
- Dalton E. GrayAmerican actor and television actorborn 1997
- DaltonBrazilian footballer and managerborn 1990
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Dalton, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Dawson
“the son of David”
96% boys · 4% girls
Devon
“from the beautiful farmland; of the divine”
86% boys · 14% girls
Clayton
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Dayton
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93% boys · 7% girls
Ashton
“from the ash-tree town”
95% boys · 5% girls
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“a dark warrior”
>99% boys
Jalen
“one who is calm; a healer” · “one who heals others; one who is tranquil”
99% boys · 1% girls
Quinton
“from the queen's town or settlement”
>99% boys