Dillan
Masculine · “great tide”
Dillan is given to both — 6,994 boys and 393 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Dillan is a spelling of Dylan, a Welsh name from the Mabinogi — a child who, the moment he is baptized, makes for the sea and swims like a fish.
How old is the name Dillan?
Dillan first appears in US birth records in 1975 — 50 years ago. The typical Dillan alive today was born around 2002, making them about 23 years old. About 6,900 people named Dillan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Dillan most popular?
Dillan peaked in 1992, reaching #553 nationally. Today it ranks #3848, 3,295 places below that high. See the whole 1992 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Dylan to Dillan
The story of Dillan
Dylan ail Don appears in the fourth branch of the Mabinogi: born to Arianrhod, he takes to the sea immediately and no wave ever breaks beneath him. The name was little used until the twentieth century, when a Welsh poet carried it and an American songwriter took it as a surname. Dillan is one of the American respellings from the wave that followed.
Meaningscholars disagree
great tide, sea
From Welsh dy, an intensifying prefix, and llanw, a tide or flow — generally read as great tide. The reading is standard but not certain, and the medieval text itself offers the sea connection as the point of the story rather than as an etymology.
How the name formed
- Dylan
- Dillan
Related forms: Dylan · Dillon · Ó Duilleáin
Pronouncing Dillan
DIL-an
Two syllables, first stressed. Welsh gives DUL-an, with a different first vowel.
Nicknames for Dillan
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
- 1975
- Most boys named
- 1992341 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #553reached in 1992
- Change vs 2024
- −36.4%28 in 2025, from 44
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.
Dillan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Dylan in Welsh — spelling variant
- Dillon in English — spelling variant
- Ó Duilleáin in Irish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Dillans among us
people named Dillan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 61,003 born in 2025 was named Dillan
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Dillan
- #3848
- Dillan on the 2025 chart
- #40
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Dillan went to 28 boys in 2025, but Dylan and Dilan are the same name said out loud. Together the 5 spellings went to 6,562, which makes it the 40th most-given boys’ name of the year — 3,808 places above the chart.
and 2 rarer spellings.
About 1 boy in 260 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 61,003 for Dillan itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Artis test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Dillan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Artis climbed just as high around 1908, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Artis's path sketches the road Dillan is walking now.
Dillan sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Dillan is headed
Dillan should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Dillan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Dillan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented medieval Welsh figure with a genuinely striking image behind him.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- Six letters and two syllables, quick to write.
- Dylan is the standard spelling and will be written for him constantly.
- Dillan, Dillon, Dylan and Dilan are four live spellings of one sound.
- The Welsh pronunciation differs from the English at the first vowel.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Dillan
Masculine · #3848 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Dillans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 6,900 people named Dillan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Dillan?
- Dillan is one of 3 recorded spellings. Dylan is the more common one — 6,208 births in 2025 against 28 for Dillan.
- How popular is the name Dillan in 2025?
- Dillan ranks #3848 among US boy names in 2025, with 28 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Dillan?
- About 1 in every 61,003 US boys born in 2025 was named Dillan — 28 in all.
- Will my child share the name Dillan with classmates?
- Dillan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Dillan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Armand#3848 · Tracy#3848 · Stafford#3848 · Dewey#3848 · Donny#3848 · Trevion#3848 · Coltyn#3848 · Isreal#3848
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Dillan? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Dillan and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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