UK boy's name
Dalton
A masculine name of English origin associated with a place meaning "valley town".
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Dalton is a boy's name in the UK records. People looking for Dalton popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #468, with 85 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2019, with 86 births.
This profile covers 1,519 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 99% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 1,583 living people in the UK are called Dalton. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Dalton ranked #468 for boys in England and Wales in 2024, with 85 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 2019, when 86 boys were registered as Dalton.
- • Dalton ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #305 in 2024.
- • About 1,583 living people in the UK are estimated to have Dalton as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#468
2024
Births in 2024
85
Latest year
Peak year
2019
86 births
Estimated living
1,583
2026
Meaning
What does Dalton mean?
The name Dalton has its origins in the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture and language. It is derived from the Old English words "dæl" meaning "valley" and "tun" meaning "enclosure" or "settlement". The name likely referred to someone who lived in a valley settlement or a secluded town.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Dalton can be found in the Domesday Book, a great survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The Domesday Book mentions several places named Dalton, indicating that the name was already in use as a place name by the 11th century.
In the Middle Ages, the name Dalton became a common surname in England, particularly in the northern counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire. However, it was also used as a given name, though less frequently.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the given name Dalton was Dalton of Lonsdale, a 12th-century English nobleman who lived in the village of Lonsdale, Lancashire. He is mentioned in several historical records from that period.
Another notable bearer of the name Dalton was John Dalton, the famous English chemist, meteorologist, and physicist who lived from 1766 to 1844. He is best known for his pioneering work in the development of atomic theory and the study of color blindness, which he himself suffered from.
In the 19th century, Dalton was also the given name of Dalton Trumbo, an American novelist and screenwriter who was born in 1905 and died in 1976. He is renowned for his work on films such as "Roman Holiday" and "Spartacus", and for his struggle against the Hollywood blacklist during the McCarthy era.
Dalton Caldwell, an American entrepreneur and software developer, is another notable bearer of the name. He was born in 1978 and is known for co-founding the online music service Imeem and the app development platform App.net.
Finally, Dalton Philips is the name of a British businessman and former CEO of Morrisons, one of the largest supermarket chains in the United Kingdom. He was born in 1968 and served as the CEO of Morrisons from 2010 to 2015.
Sourced from namecensus.com.
Popularity
Dalton over time
The chart below shows babies named Dalton registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Dalton, the clearest high point is 2019. The latest England and Wales figure is 85 births in 2024, compared with 86 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dalton by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Dalton was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #612 | 305 | 5 |
| 2010s | #613 | 618 | 10 |
| 2000s | #629 | 408 | 10 |
| 1990s | #449 | 188 | 4 |
Geography
Where Dalton is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Dalton. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.
Dalton ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #305 in 2024.
Across the UK
Dalton in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#619 in 2024
13 years of NRS records, 48 total registered
Northern Ireland (NISRA)
#305 in 2024
7 years of NISRA records, 27 total registered
Notable bearers
Famous people named Dalton
-
Dalton Thorne
basketball player
Welsh basketball player (born 1992)
1992-
-
Dalton Grant
rugby league player
Welsh rugby league footballer
1990-
-
Dalton Grant
athletics competitor
British athlete
1966-
Related
Names similar to Dalton
- Daniel 120,900
- Dylan 60,836
- David 37,852
- Dominic 20,480
- Declan 11,657
- Dexter 11,627
- Danny 8,434
- Dean 5,329
- Dillon 4,113
- Douglas 3,773
- Dominik 3,494
- Damian 3,486
FAQ
Dalton: questions and answers
How popular is the name Dalton in the UK right now?
In 2024, Dalton was ranked #468 for boys in England and Wales, with 85 births registered.
When was Dalton most popular?
The peak year on record was 2019, with 86 babies registered as Dalton in England and Wales.
What is the meaning and origin of Dalton?
A masculine name of English origin associated with a place meaning "valley town".
How many people are called Dalton in the UK?
A total of 1,519 babies have been registered as Dalton across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 48 more in Scotland and 27 in Northern Ireland.
Where is Dalton most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Dalton ranks best in Northern Ireland, where it placed #305 in 2024. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.