DAYL
Dale
About Dale
A light and breezy nature name that's currently in style limbo, despite its pleasant meaning, Dale was originally a surname, used for someone who lived near a valley. It was a Top 100 choice in the US between the 20s and 70s, though it has been out of the Top 1000 since the 2000s.
Given to just shy of 150 boys in a recent year, it makes a familiar-but-unique option.
Pronounced DAYL.
As of October 2026, Dale ranked #1410 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #46 in 1952, Nameberry popularity #525.
Editor's take: The name Dale is a boy's name of English origin meaning "valley".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,072 | 181 | 94.2 |
| 2015 | #1,096 | 177 | 92.3 |
| 2016 | #1,124 | 173 | 91.2 |
| 2017 | #1,223 | 150 | 81 |
| 2018 | #1,388 | 127 | 69.9 |
| 2019 | #1,468 | 118 | 65.8 |
| 2020 | #1,355 | 131 | 75.9 |
| 2021 | #1,409 | 130 | 74.3 |
| 2022 | #1,559 | 114 | 65.3 |
| 2023 | #1,414 | 129 | 75.4 |
| 2024 | #1,306 | 149 | 86.5 |
| 2025 | #1,410 | 129 | 75.5 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Dale.
Famous Dales
- (Ralph) Dale Earnhardt
American NASCAR driver
- (Ralph) Dale Earnhardt Jr.
American NASCAR driver
- Dale Arnold Jarrett
American NASCAR driver
- Dale Alan Midkiff
American actor
- Dale Willem Steyn
South African cricketer
- (Byron) Dale Oliver
American country musician
- Dale Thomas Mortensen
American economist
- Dale Hey aka Buddy Roberts
American pro wrestler
- Dale Whibley
Canadian actor
- Dale Harbison Carnegie
American author and speaker
- Dale Brown
American novelist
- Dale Jonathan Winton
English TV presenter
- Dale Norman Campbell
Savours, Baron Campbell,Savours, British MP
- Dayl Cronin
Irish singer of group HomeTown
Dale in pop culture
- Special Agent Dale Cooper
a main character on TV's "Twin Peaks"
- Dale Horvath
character on TV's "The Walking Dead"
- Dale Denton
Seth Rogen's character in "Pineapple Express"
- Dale Locklin
character on TV's "The Client List"
- Dale
Disney chipmunk (Chip 'n' Dale)
- Dale
city that was destroyed by the dragon Smaug in "The Hobbit"
- Dale Gribble
Hank Hill's paranoid neighbor in "King of the Hill"
- Dale Barbara aka Barbie
main character in book/TV series "Under the Dome"
- Dale
character in the YouTube series "Minecraft Diaries"
- Dale Vandermeer
character in the Cube Escape series
- Dale Ballard
coach introduced in Season 3 of "Young Sheldon" played by Craig T. Nelson