Dalyn
Of Celtic origin, meaning "from the meadow" or "valley".
Name Census estimates that about 1,261 living Americans carry the first name Dalyn. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 69.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Dalyn today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dalyn births was 2000 (58 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dalyn. 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.
Key insights
- • Dalyn was once a predominantly female name but has become increasingly popular for boys in recent decades.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 271,812 Americans
Peak year
2000
58 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,436
Tracked since 1955
Census
Dalyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,136 people with the first name Dalyn, which placed it at #11,344 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
#11,344
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,136 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
51.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dalyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dalyn is White at 51.7%. The next largest groups are Black (28.8%) and Hispanic (8.9%). 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 Dalyn 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 Dalyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White51.7% · 587
- Black or African American28.8% · 327
- Hispanic or Latino8.9% · 101
- Two or more races6.0% · 68
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 21
Gender
Gender distribution for Dalyn
Dalyn is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,293 total registrations, 904 (69.9%) were male and 389 (30.1%) were female.
Dalyn as a male name
- Ranked #8,436 in 2024
- 9 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2002 (45 births)
Dalyn as a female name
- Ranked #13,830 in 2020
- 6 female births in 2020
- Peak: 2000 (17 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Dalyn on both sides of the split. Of the 1,141 people counted with this name, 744 were male (65.2%) and 397 were female (34.8%).
Popularity
Dalyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dalyn from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 495 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
Dalyn 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 Dalyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dalyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Texas, Utah, Georgia recorded the most babies named Dalyn, while Tennessee, Ohio, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dalyn
The name Dalyn is a modern invention, likely created in the 20th century as a combination of the Welsh name Dylan and the English name Alyn. It does not have a clear historical origin or etymology.
Dylan is a Welsh name derived from the elements "dy" meaning "great" and "llan" meaning "sea, ocean, or lake". It has been used as a given name in Wales for centuries, with early records showing its use as far back as the 16th century. One notable bearer of the name was Dylan Thomas, the renowned Welsh poet who lived from 1914 to 1953.
Alyn, on the other hand, is an English name that may have originated as a variant of the name Alan or Alun, which has roots in the Breton and Welsh languages. It could also be derived from the Welsh word "alun" meaning "handsome" or the Old English word "aeluiyn" meaning "precious".
While Dalyn itself does not have a documented history, there have been a few notable individuals who have carried this name in modern times. One example is Dalyn Willliams, an American mixed martial artist and former UFC fighter, born in 1985.
Another bearer of the name is Dalyn Dalcort, a Canadian actress known for her roles in television series like "Heartland" and "Arctic Air". She was born in 1992.
Beyond these contemporary examples, it is difficult to find any historical figures or records that specifically mention the name Dalyn. This suggests that it is a relatively recent coinage, likely created as a combination of existing names for aesthetic or symbolic purposes.
In the absence of a deeper historical background, the name Dalyn remains a modern invention, perhaps reflecting a desire for uniqueness or a connection to the Welsh and English roots of its constituent parts. However, it has yet to establish a significant presence in historical records or literature.
People
Dalyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dalyn 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
Dalyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dalyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,261 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dalyn 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 271,812 US residents.
Is Dalyn a common name?
We classify Dalyn as "Rare". It ranks above 91.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,293 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dalyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Dalyn was 2000, when 58 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dalyn is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dalyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,136 people with the name Dalyn, or 0.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,344 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 Dalyn 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 Dalyn?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Dalyn on both sides of the split. Of the 1,141 people counted with this name, 744 were male (65.2%) and 397 were female (34.8%). 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 Dalyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dalyn is White at 51.7%. The next largest groups are Black (28.8%) and Hispanic (8.9%). 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 Dalyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Dalyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.7% (587 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 Dalyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dalyn a male name?
Yes, 69.9% of people registered as Dalyn 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 Dalyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dalyn 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 Dalyn 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 Dalyn as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.