Dallas
Masculine
Dallas is given to both — 71,203 boys and 15,882 girls since 1880. See Dallas as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Dallas began as a patch of land in Moray, in the northeast of Scotland — a place name that became a family name, and a family name that crossed the Atlantic and became a first name. It has never left the American record since national statistics began, moving in a long steady line rather than a spike. Two syllables, first-syllable stress, and no one has to ask how to spell it.
How old is the name Dallas?
Dallas was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Dallas alive today was born around 1995, making them about 30 years old. About 56,000 people named Dallas are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Dallas most popular?
Dallas peaked in 1995, reaching #214 nationally. Today it ranks #238, 24 places below that high. See the whole 1995 chart.
Where it comes from
From Dallas (lands in Moray, Scotland) to Dallas
The story of Dallas
The lands of Dallas lie in Moray, and by the medieval period a family had taken their name from them, appearing in Scottish records in forms such as Dolays before settling into the modern spelling. Emigration carried the surname to North America, where — as happened to Scottish surnames generally — it began to be handed out as a first name. It also went onto the map of Texas in the 1840s, and the origin of the city's name has never been fully settled, though it is usually connected to a man of that surname. The city, and later a long-running prime-time television series and a football franchise, are what most Americans now hear first.
Meaningscholars disagree
most likely 'meadow dwelling' or 'meadow by the waterfall'
The Scottish place name behind it is read two ways. One reading takes it from Brythonic or Pictish elements meaning roughly 'meadow' and 'dwelling'; the other from Gaelic dail ('meadow, haugh') with eas ('waterfall'). Both point at low green ground beside water, which is why the two readings sit together comfortably rather than canceling each other out.
How the name formed
- Dallaslands in Moray, Scotland
- Dolaysmedieval Scottish surname
- DallasScottish surname
- Dallasgiven name
Pronouncing Dallas
DAL-us
Stress on the first syllable. The second is an unstressed 'us' or 'is' depending on region; both are ordinary and neither needs correcting.
Nicknames for Dallas
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 20251,475 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #214reached in 1995
- Change vs 2022
- +8.5%1,475 in 2025, from 1,359
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Dallas in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Georgia, California.
Dallass among us
people named Dallas are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 1,158 born in 2025 was named Dallas
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Lamont test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Dallas's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Lamont climbed just as high around 1972, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Lamont's path sketches the road Dallas is walking now.
Dallas peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Dallas is headed
Dallas should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Dallas beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Dallas in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Unbroken presence in American records since the earliest years of national name statistics — long familiarity, without ever having been a crowd.
- A spelling nobody has to be told twice: the city has taught it to every English speaker.
- Given to both boys and girls, so the name itself needs no adjustment either way.
- Two syllables, one clear stress, no silent letters or competing pronunciations.
- The place association is unavoidable. Most people will think of the Texas city, the football team, or the television series that ran from the late 1970s into the early 1990s, and some will hear the city's link to the Kennedy assassination.
- Strongest in Texas, Georgia and California — inside Texas especially, the name and the city are hard to separate, which may read as local pride or as a lot to carry.
- It leans boy in the records. A girl named Dallas is in a real but smaller group, and may occasionally be assumed a boy on paper before she is met in person.
- Short forms are thin — Dal and Dally, and not much else. If you like a name with a built-in nickname, this one mostly stays whole.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Dallas
Masculine · #238 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Dallass are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 56,000 people named Dallas are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Dallas in 2025?
- Dallas ranks #238 among US boy names in 2025, with 1,475 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Dallas?
- About 1 in every 1,158 US boys born in 2025 was named Dallas — 1,475 in all.
- Will my child share the name Dallas with classmates?
- Dallas will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Dallas
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Muhammad#239 · Kaiden#237 · Warren#240 · Brody#236 · Patrick#235 · Adonis#241 · Milan#242 · Richard#234
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Dallas? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Dallas and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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