Dalton

Where Dalton comes from

From Old English dæl (“valley”) + tun (“settlement”). Equivalent to dale + town.
— Wiktionary's entry for Dalton
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1881
    First appearance
    #866 among boys, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1905
    Dalton Trumbo born
    American screenwriter
  3. 1968
    Dalton Tagelagi born
    New Zealand politician, Premier of Niue
  4. 1994
    Peak, #85
    4,245 babies named Dalton — more than any year before or since.
  5. 2006
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #200.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name transferred from the surname.
Namesakes
  • Dalton Trumbo · American screenwriter, 1905–1976
  • Dalton Tagelagi · New Zealand politician, Premier of Niue, born 1968
  • Dalton Vigh · Brazilian actor, born 1964
  • Dalton Knecht · American basketball player, born 2001
  • Dalton McGuinty · Canadian politician, born 1955

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.