Head to head · Boys' names
Dalton vs Uriel
#448 vs #445 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Uriel is a whisker ahead (#445 vs #448 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
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
The tape is even: Dalton and Uriel each lead 3 measures of 6.
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: Dalton #823, Uriel — — Dalton higher
- 1890s: Dalton #834, Uriel — — Dalton higher
- 1900s: Dalton #741, Uriel — — Dalton higher
- 1910s: Dalton #580, Uriel #3065 — Dalton higher
- 1920s: Dalton #504, Uriel #3039 — Dalton higher
- 1930s: Dalton #480, Uriel #3257 — Dalton higher
- 1940s: Dalton #565, Uriel #3207 — Dalton higher
- 1950s: Dalton #721, Uriel #3019 — Dalton higher
- 1960s: Dalton #834, Uriel #2347 — Dalton higher
- 1970s: Dalton #1029, Uriel #1672 — Dalton higher
- 1980s: Dalton #789, Uriel #978 — Dalton higher
- 1990s: Dalton #109, Uriel #564 — Dalton higher
- 2000s: Dalton #167, Uriel #426 — Dalton higher
- 2010s: Dalton #331, Uriel #492 — Dalton higher
- 2020s: Dalton #482, Uriel #476 — Uriel higher
Dalton stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Uriel took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Dalton | Uriel |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #823 | — |
| 1890s | #834 | — |
| 1900s | #741 | — |
| 1910s | #580 | #3065 |
| 1920s | #504 | #3039 |
| 1930s | #480 | #3257 |
| 1940s | #565 | #3207 |
| 1950s | #721 | #3019 |
| 1960s | #834 | #2347 |
| 1970s | #1029 | #1672 |
| 1980s | #789 | #978 |
| 1990s | #109 | #564 |
| 2000s | #167 | #426 |
| 2010s | #331 | #492 |
| 2020s | #482 | #476 |
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
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.
Uriel
God is my light
From Hebrew ʼur, "light" or "flame", joined to El, "God" — the same divine element that closes Michael, Gabriel and Daniel.
Uriʼel (Hebrew) → Ouriēl (Greek) → Uriel (Latin) → Uriel
How it traveled
Uriel is Hebrew, and it appears in the Hebrew Bible as the name of ordinary men — a Levite in the book of Chronicles among them. Its wider fame came from Jewish writings outside the canon: in 1 Enoch and in 2 Esdras, Uriel is named as one of the archangels, and that identification carried the name through Greek and Latin texts into Christian and later esoteric tradition.
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
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.
Uriel
YOOR-ee-el
English speakers also say OO-ree-el. In Spanish the stress falls on the last syllable: oo-ree-EL. All three are correct in their own settings, so it helps to decide early which one your family will use.
- Uri — The standard short form, and a given name in its own right in Hebrew-speaking families.
- Riel — Used informally, more often where the name is pronounced with the stress on the final syllable.
- Uriel — Frequently used in full — three syllables is short enough that many bearers never shorten it at all.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Dalton if you want…
On the measures here, the records do not separate Dalton from Uriel.
Choose Uriel if you want…
On the measures here, the records do not separate Uriel from Dalton.
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
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.
Uriel
Strengths
- A meaning that is settled rather than debated, and one parents can state in four words: God is my light.
- Works unchanged in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French — useful in a bilingual family or an extended one.
- Shares its ending with Gabriel, Daniel and Michael, so the shape is instantly readable to people who have never seen it before.
To consider
- Two live pronunciations, English and Spanish, means a lifetime of small corrections — or of answering to both. Neither is wrong, which is the awkward part.
- It sits close to Ariel and Uriah in sound and in print, and gets misheard as both. Uriah in particular carries its own baggage from Dickens.
- The archangel association is stronger than with most -el names, since Uriel is chiefly known from angel writings rather than from a biblical narrative. Some families welcome that; others would rather the name arrive without it.
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 Dalton and Uriel 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 Dalton and Uriel?
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
- Names that belong entirely to the 1990s
- Quiet perennials: a century old, never popular
- The best baby names starting with U
- all guides
Where Dalton and Uriel each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Dalton or Uriel — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Dalton or Uriel?
- Uriel, in 2025: Uriel ranked #445 with 708 babies; Dalton ranked #448 with 699 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Dalton or Uriel?
- Uriel. Over the last five years Dalton moved up 15 places; Uriel moved up 20 places.
- Which is the older name, Dalton or Uriel?
- Dalton entered the US charts in 1881; Uriel entered the US charts in 1913. On the American record, Dalton is the older name.
- How many people are named Dalton and Uriel?
- About 79,500 people named Dalton are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 20,500 people named Uriel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Daltons or Uriels in the classroom?
- Dalton will almost certainly be the only one in school. Uriel 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
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Dalton, Uriel and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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