Dylin
Masculine · “Welsh”
Dylin is given to both — 641 boys and 139 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Dylan is a figure from the Mabinogi who, the moment he was baptized, made for the sea and swam like a fish. The name reached America through a Welsh poet who bore it and a Minnesotan singer who chose it, which is two literary removes before any child was named at all.
How old is the name Dylin?
Dylin first appears in US birth records in 1990 — 35 years ago. The typical Dylin alive today was born around 2004, making them about 21 years old. About 600 people named Dylin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Dylin most popular?
Dylin peaked in 1998, reaching #2599 nationally. Today it ranks #8910, 6,311 places below that high. See the whole 1998 chart.
Where it comes from
From Dylan to Dylin
The story of Dylin
The name's route into English is unusually well documented. Dylan Thomas was born in Swansea in 1914 and named from the Mabinogi at a time when the Welsh literary revival was actively reviving medieval names. Robert Zimmerman took Dylan as a stage name around 1959, and although he has given more than one account of why, the poet's fame is the usual explanation and the singer never denied it. The American name curve then rises through the 1970s and 1980s and peaks nationally in the 2000s, decades behind the singer. That long lag is normal for a name carried by an admired figure rather than by a single hit: the association has to soften from a specific reference into a general availability before parents will use it, and that takes about a generation.
Meaningscholars disagree
Welsh, sea or great tide
Dylin is a respelling of Dylan, a Welsh name usually read as sea, ocean or great tide, from dy, an intensifying prefix, and llanw, tide or flow. Dylan ail Don appears in the fourth branch of the Mabinogi. The reading is traditional rather than certain. The -in spelling replaces the a of the unstressed second syllable, which carries no distinct vowel sound. The peak of this spelling is 1998.
How the name formed
- Dylan
- Dylin
Related forms: Dylan · Dillon
Pronouncing Dylin
DIL-in
Two syllables, stress on the first. Welsh says DUH-lan with a different first vowel. Dylan, Dylin and Dillon are homophones in American speech.
Nicknames for Dylin
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
- 1990
- Most boys named
- 200337 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2599reached in 1998
- Change vs 2024
- +14.3%8 in 2025, from 7
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.
Dylin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Dylan in Welsh — spelling variant
- Dillon in English — spelling variant
Dylins among us
people named Dylin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 213,510 born in 2025 was named Dylin
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 Anthonio test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Dylin's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Anthonio climbed just as high around 1976, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Anthonio's path sketches the road Dylin is walking now.
Dylin 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
Dylin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Dylin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two syllables and five letters, easy to say and spell out.
- The Welsh original has a documented medieval source.
- Dyl works as a short form.
- Dylan is overwhelmingly the standard spelling.
- Dillon is a separate Irish surname with the same sound.
- The Welsh pronunciation differs from the American one.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Dylin
Masculine · #8910 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Dylins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Dylin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Dylin in 2025?
- Dylin ranks #8910 among US boy names in 2025, with 8 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Dylin?
- About 1 in every 213,510 US boys born in 2025 was named Dylin — 8 in all.
- Will my child share the name Dylin with classmates?
- Dylin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Dylin
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Davie#8910 · Ned#8910 · Darious#8910 · Alois#8910 · Len#8910 · Barton#8910 · Desmon#8910 · Winfield#8910
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Dylin? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Dylin and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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