Dallas
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Meaning
place name/surname; meaning uncertain, possibly "meadow of the waterfall"
The story
Dallas is Scottish before it is Texan: a place name and surname from a village in Moray, its meaning uncertain, though meadow of the waterfall is the reading most often offered. Americans, of course, hear the city first, and the name has long carried a certain ten-gallon swagger. What the records show is patience: Dallas kept a modest, almost unchanging presence from the 1890s straight through the 1970s, never disappearing and never spiking. It stirred in the 1980s, coincidentally or not the decade the television drama Dallas ruled the airwaves, then found real momentum in the 2000s, and it has held its highest level on record through the 2010s and 2020s. It suits the moment: a place name with grit, a century of quiet patience behind it, and plenty of room to grow.
How popular is Dallas around the world?
In the United States, 10,950 babies were named Dallas between 2020 and 2025.
Dallas is on the official records of the United States, Canada, New Zealand, South Australia, Ireland, England and Wales, Argentina and Brazil.
United States
1 in 2,000
In the United States, 10,950 babies were named Dallas between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Dallas peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 3,400
In Canada, 90 boys named Dallas were born in 2024, the 364th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
New Zealand
1 in 4,400
In New Zealand, 13 boys named Dallas were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
South Australia
1 in 4,6002017
In South Australia, 4 boys were registered as Dallas in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Ireland
1 in 14,000
In Ireland, 4 girls named Dallas were born in 2025, the 718th most common name among girls that year.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
England and Wales
1 in 18,000
In England and Wales, 22 boys named Dallas were born in 2025, ranked 1,276th among boys that year.
In England and Wales, 10 girls named Dallas were born in 2025, ranked 2,605th among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Argentina
1 in 330,000
In Argentina, 2 newborns were given the name Dallas in 2024.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 95 people in Brazil were named Dallas, ranked 42,809th, with a median age of 39.
Among people named Dallas living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Montevideo City
last on record 1981
Dallas is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Scotland
last on record 2005
Dallas is not on the 2024 record for Scotland, where spellings under 3 in total are suppressed at source.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Dallas
Most people given the name Dallas in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like Dallas · Names that go with Dallas · Middle names for Dallas
The Dallas deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Dallas truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Dallas fits with your family’s names and surname.
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