Head to head · Boys' names
Bo vs Dalton
#449 vs #448 in 2025
Dalton is a whisker ahead (#448 vs #449 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Dalton is holding its place on the charts, Bo is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Bo has the edge.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Dalton leads 5 measures of 6; Bo leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Bo —, Dalton #823 — Dalton higher
- 1890s: Bo —, Dalton #834 — Dalton higher
- 1900s: Bo #1345, Dalton #741 — Dalton higher
- 1910s: Bo #3216, Dalton #580 — Dalton higher
- 1920s: Bo #3579, Dalton #504 — Dalton higher
- 1930s: Bo #3394, Dalton #480 — Dalton higher
- 1940s: Bo #2736, Dalton #565 — Dalton higher
- 1950s: Bo #2202, Dalton #721 — Dalton higher
- 1960s: Bo #1568, Dalton #834 — Dalton higher
- 1970s: Bo #1186, Dalton #1029 — Dalton higher
- 1980s: Bo #660, Dalton #789 — Bo higher
- 1990s: Bo #740, Dalton #109 — Dalton higher
- 2000s: Bo #862, Dalton #167 — Dalton higher
- 2010s: Bo #671, Dalton #331 — Dalton higher
- 2020s: Bo #483, Dalton #482 — Dalton higher
Dalton stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Dalton has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Bo | Dalton |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #823 |
| 1890s | — | #834 |
| 1900s | #1345 | #741 |
| 1910s | #3216 | #580 |
| 1920s | #3579 | #504 |
| 1930s | #3394 | #480 |
| 1940s | #2736 | #565 |
| 1950s | #2202 | #721 |
| 1960s | #1568 | #834 |
| 1970s | #1186 | #1029 |
| 1980s | #660 | #789 |
| 1990s | #740 | #109 |
| 2000s | #862 | #167 |
| 2010s | #671 | #331 |
| 2020s | #483 | #482 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Bo
'to live, to dwell' (Old Norse), or a short form of Beau, 'handsome'
Two separate names meet at this spelling. The Scandinavian Bo comes from the Old Norse byname Bói, formed on búa, 'to live, dwell, keep a household'. The American Bo more often begins as a short form — of Beauregard or Beau, from French beau, 'handsome', or of Robert. Both are genuine; which one a family means is entirely up to them.
búa (Old Norse, 'to dwell') → Bói → Bo
How it traveled
In Denmark and Sweden, Bo stands on its own and has for a very long time, descending from the Old Norse byname Bói, related to the verb búa, 'to live or dwell'. It has stayed in steady use across Scandinavia into the modern era, one of a small set of very short Nordic names that never needed a longer form behind them.
Dalton
valley settlement or valley farmstead
From Old English dæl, "valley, dale," and tūn, "enclosure, farmstead, settlement" — the same tūn that ends hundreds of English town and surname forms.
Old English dæl + tūn → Dalton (English place name) → Dalton (surname) → Dalton (given name)
How it traveled
There is no single Dalton in England; there are many, in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumbria and Durham, all named the same practical way for a farm or hamlet sitting in a dale. Medieval families who came from such a place were known by it, and Dalton became one of the well-established English surnames, carried to North America with the migrations of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Bo
BOH
One syllable, rhyming with 'go'. Spelled exactly as it sounds in English, though it is occasionally heard as Beau and written that way by mistake.
- Bo — Already the short form of Beau, Beauregard, Robert, Boaz and Bowen — many families use it as the everyday name with a longer one on the birth certificate.
- Bobo — Informal, used inside families and mostly in early childhood.
Dalton
DAWL-tuhn
Two syllables, stress on the first, with the l fully sounded. Some American speakers say DAHL-tuhn; both are accepted and no one will correct you.
- Dalt — The most common clipped form, informal and used mainly by family and friends; not established as a standalone given name.
- Dal — Shorter still, informal, and easy to confuse in speech with Dale, which is a separate name from the same Old English root.
- D — Initial-only nickname, common in American schools and on sports teams.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Bo if you want…
- a name on the way upup 91 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesBo is 1 syllable to Dalton's 2
Choose Dalton if you want…
- a name holding steadyDalton is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itDalton runs 2 syllables, Bo 1
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Bo
Strengths
- One syllable and two letters: easy for a child to write early, and almost impossible to mispronounce in English.
- Works either way — as a full given name, as it has been in Scandinavia for centuries, or as the short form of Beau, Beauregard, Robert, Boaz or Bowen.
- Continuously on US records since the early twentieth century, so it reads as established rather than newly coined.
To consider
- Very short names invite the question 'is it short for something?' Some families head that off with a longer legal name; others are happy to answer it for life.
- In the Netherlands and Belgium, Bo is a common girls' name. In US records it leans boy, but the name is genuinely unisex abroad and some American families use it for girls too.
- Bo is also a widely used dog's name, which will come up in a few conversations — usually cheerfully.
Dalton
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds and read correctly on first sight by nearly everyone in the English-speaking world.
- A documented English place name and surname going back to the medieval period, with an unbroken written record.
- Works on a form, a diploma or a name tag without explanation — it reads as a surname-style name, a style long naturalized in American naming.
To consider
- Daulton and Delton exist as separate spellings, so expect an occasional query about which one you mean — though Dalton is the form people default to.
- Because it rose to prominence with a particular wave of surname names, many Daltons are now young adults rather than children, which gives the name a generational tint for some listeners.
- The Dalton Gang, brothers who robbed banks and trains in the American West in the 1890s, still shows up in Old West histories and place names. It is a footnote rather than a shadow, but you may hear it mentioned.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Bo and Dalton in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Bo and Dalton?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Two-letter names: the shortest in the records
- Scandinavian names, cool by design
- East and Southeast Asian names in American use
- Viking names from the sagas
- all guides
Where Bo and Dalton each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Bo or Dalton — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Bo or Dalton?
- Dalton, in 2025: Dalton ranked #448 with 699 babies; Bo ranked #449 with 698 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Bo or Dalton?
- Bo. Over the last five years Bo moved up 91 places; Dalton moved up 15 places.
- Which is the older name, Bo or Dalton?
- Bo entered the US charts in 1907; Dalton entered the US charts in 1881. On the American record, Dalton is the older name.
- How many people are named Bo and Dalton?
- About 14,500 people named Bo are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 79,500 people named Dalton are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Bos or Daltons in the classroom?
- Bo will almost certainly be the only one in school. Dalton will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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