Dale

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Boy · Old English

Dale

Say it: DAYL

Try it with your surname

Meaning

From the English surname for someone who lived in a valley, from Old English dæl 'valley'.

Certainscholars agree on this meaning.

A surname turned given name, popular for American boys from the 1920s to the 1950s and also used for girls.

Its wave through time

Fading since the 1950s

In the United States

024618801900192019401960198020002020Girls 1952Boys 1958per 1,000 babies of that sex
  • 299,354 babies given this name since 1881
  • At its height in 1952, about 1 in 262 boys
  • 130 babies in 2020

Through the ages

  1. The Modern Age1880 to today

Used by

EnglishAmerican

The family of the name

Other spellings: Dail

Famous bearers

  • Dale Carnegie, American self-help writer
  • Dale Earnhardt, American racing driver

Names worth a look

Where this comes from

  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
  • National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.