Dillard
Masculine
Dillard is a surname that only ever moved in one direction. It crossed to America as a family name, went to the front of the name in the nineteenth century, and stayed there — while in England, where it started, nobody has ever used it as a first name at all.
How old is the name Dillard?
Dillard was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Dillard alive today was born around 1933, making them about 92 years old. About 1,200 people named Dillard are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Dillard most popular?
Dillard peaked in 1898, reaching #573 nationally. See the whole 1898 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Dillard
The name's clearest mark on America is a university. Dillard University in New Orleans was formed from the merger of two older institutions founded for freed people after the Civil War, and it was named for James Hardy Dillard, a Virginian who spent his career administering funds for Black schools across the South. The surname itself had arrived long before, in Virginia and the Carolinas, and had already begun doing what English surnames did in that region: moving to the front of the name and being handed down as a first name through families who had no Dillard ancestor at all.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The surname's own source has never been settled. Proposals include a Norman personal name, an English occupational term and a form of Dillon, and none of them can be shown from the records. The -ard ending is Germanic and appears in dozens of names, but that tells you about the shape rather than the sense.
Pronouncing Dillard
DIL-urd
Two syllables with the weight at the front, the second reduced to a hum. There is no second reading to correct.
Nicknames for Dillard
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
- 192589 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #573reached in 1898
- Change vs 2007
- −16.7%5 in 2014, from 6
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.
Dillards among us
people named Dillard are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Dillard sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Both syllables are ordinary English and the name is read correctly at sight.
- It works as a surname and as a first name, which suits families that use both.
- It is genuinely uncommon without being unreadable or invented-looking.
- There is no settled meaning to pass on, and inventing one would be dishonest.
- A large American department store chain carries the name, which is the first association for many.
- It reads as a name of the nineteenth century.
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Dillard
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Dillards are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,200 people named Dillard are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Dillard in 2025?
- Dillard is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Dillard with classmates?
- Dillard will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More D names
The most-given names starting with D, all years combined.
David#35 · Daniel#22 · Donald#690 · Dennis#707 · Douglas#807 · Dylan#41 · Danny#628 · Dale#1409
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Dillard? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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