Dylan
Feminine · “sea”
Dylan is given to both — 16,272 girls and 418,679 boys since 1880. See Dylan as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Dylan comes out of medieval Welsh storytelling — a sea-child in one of the oldest prose tales in Britain — and it stayed almost entirely Welsh until a poet from Swansea carried it out into the wider language. Two syllables, one settled spelling in English, and a sound that hasn't needed adjusting in any country it has traveled to.
How old is the name Dylan?
Dylan first appears in US birth records in 1967 — 58 years ago. The typical Dylan alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 16,000 people named Dylan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Dylan most popular?
Dylan peaked in 2017, reaching #354 nationally. Today it ranks #807, 453 places below that high. See the whole 2017 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Dylan ail Don (Mabinogi) to Dylan
The story of Dylan
Dylan first appears as Dylan ail Don in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi, the collection of Welsh tales written down in the Middle Ages; in the story the newborn makes straight for the sea and swims as naturally as a fish. For centuries the name stayed inside that literature rather than in ordinary use. The Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, born in Swansea in 1914, changed that — his fame carried the name into English, and a young American musician borrowed it as a surname soon after. From there it spread through the English-speaking world, and it still charts on both sides of the Atlantic.
Meaning
sea, ocean
The Welsh word dylan means sea or tide, and the medieval tale itself connects the name to the water. Some scholars read the older form as something nearer 'great flow' or 'great tide' — the same image, differently angled.
How the name formed
- Dylan ail DonMabinogi
- DylanWelsh
- DylanEnglish
Related forms: Dylan · Dillon · Dylon
Pronouncing Dylan
DIL-an
That is the standard English pronunciation everywhere the name is common. In Welsh it is closer to DUH-lan, with the y sounding like the u in 'but' — worth knowing if the family has Welsh ties, though almost no one outside Wales will say it that way.
Nicknames for Dylan
High
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
- 1967
- Most girls named
- 2017894 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #354reached in 2017
- Change vs 2024
- −17.4%338 in 2025, from 409
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.
Dylan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Dylan in Welsh — same name
- Dillon in English — spelling variant
- Dylon in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Dylans among us
people named Dylan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 4,755 born in 2025 was named Dylan
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 Lauri test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Dylan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Lauri climbed just as high around 1961, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Lauri's path sketches the road Dylan is walking now.
Dylan 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 Dylan is headed
Dylan is easing off slowly — about 19% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
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.
Dylan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Dylan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One dominant spelling in English, recognized on sight and almost never needing to be spelled out loud.
- Two short syllables that survive intact in most languages — no sound in it is hard for a non-English speaker.
- A documented literary root going back to a medieval Welsh manuscript, which is more history than most modern two-syllable names carry.
- Established short forms — Dyl, Dill, a plain initial — none of which have to be taught to anyone.
- Charts in England and Wales as well as the US, so it travels without explanation.
- Dillon is a real alternative spelling and also an Irish surname, so some people will write it that way by default. A quick correction, but a lifelong one.
- On the girls' side this spelling is very rare — nearly every Dylan on record is a boy. A girl named Dylan will meet forms, teachers and strangers assuming otherwise, which some families welcome and some would rather avoid.
- For older generations the name still points straight at the Welsh poet and the American songwriter. That association has faded for younger ears, but it hasn't disappeared.
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What they receive
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Dylan
Feminine · #807 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Dylans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 16,000 people named Dylan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Dylan in 2025?
- Dylan ranks #807 among US girl names in 2025, with 338 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Dylan?
- About 1 in every 4,755 US girls born in 2025 was named Dylan — 338 in all.
- Will my child share the name Dylan with classmates?
- Dylan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Dylan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Brynleigh#807 · Zainab#807 · Treasure#807 · Avani#805 · Adley#805 · Charleigh#811 · Naya#812 · Milana#812
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Dylan? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Dylan and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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