Dillon
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Meaning
variant of Dylan, traditionally translated as 'son of the sea'
The story
Dillon is the Irish-surname spelling that American parents borrowed for the sound of Welsh Dylan, son of the sea, which makes it a name with an Irish passport and a Welsh soul. The record keeps an honest joke here: Marshal Matt Dillon kept order on Gunsmoke for twenty years from 1955, television's steadiest lawman, and through that entire run the name stayed at trace levels, barely registering with parents. What coincides with its climb is the Dylan wave of the 1980s and 1990s, when every spelling of the sound rose together; Dillon's peak is the 1990s, easing since. The record simply shows the two eras side by side: twenty years of the West's most reliable marshal with the curve flat, then a climb that arrives with the whole Dylan family at once.
How popular is Dillon around the world?
In the United States, 2,340 babies were named Dillon between 2020 and 2025.
Dillon is on the official records of the United States, Scotland, England and Wales, Ireland, South Australia, Canada and Brazil.
United States
1 in 9,300
In the United States, 2,340 babies were named Dillon between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Dillon peaked in the 1990s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Scotland
1 in 11,000
In Scotland, 4 boys named Dillon were registered in 2024, the 619th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
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
England and Wales
1 in 14,000
In England and Wales, 39 boys named Dillon were born in 2025, the 822nd most common name among boys 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
Ireland
1 in 18,000
In Ireland, 3 boys named Dillon were born in 2025, the 829th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
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
South Australia
1 in 18,0002017
In South Australia, 1 boy was registered as Dillon 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
Canada
1 in 28,000
In Canada, 13 boys named Dillon were born in 2024, ranked 1,614th 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)
Argentina
last on record 2021
Dillon is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 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, 31 people in Brazil were named Dillon, ranked 92,291st, with a median age of 26.
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
New Zealand
last on record 2008
Dillon is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
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
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 Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. 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 Dillon
Most people given the name Dillon in the United States were born between 1990 and 2009. The Dillon you meet today is most often in his 20s or 30s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Dillon deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Dillon 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 Dillon fits with your family’s names and surname.
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