Dylan
Top 1000
About Dylan
Dylan still feels poetic and romantic after years of popularity. It still ranks highly on the charts, among the top boy names starting with D, so if you choose it, be aware that yours may not be the only Dylan in his class.
Dylan was derived of the Welsh components dy and llanw, meaning "sea." In Welsh mythology, Dylan was a legendary sea god who prompted all the waters of Britain and Ireland to weep when he died. The name came to prominence via the great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, whose name Bob Dylan adopted in tribute.
>Several celebrities have sons named Dylan, including Welsh-born Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas, Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds and Nadia Comaneci.
The name Dylan was given to about 500 baby girls last year, but 7000 baby boys so it doesn't quite qualify as unisex.
Dillon is another popular spelling, though the Dillon spelling is used only about 5 percent of the time.
Pronounced DIL-uhn.
As of October 2026, Dylan ranked #41 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #19 in 2003, Nameberry popularity #74.
Editor's take: The name Dylan is a boy's name of Welsh origin meaning "son of the sea".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #29 | 10,416 | 5,422.5 |
| 2015 | #27 | 10,298 | 5,372.7 |
| 2016 | #32 | 9,719 | 5,121.4 |
| 2017 | #29 | 9,315 | 5,032.5 |
| 2018 | #31 | 8,610 | 4,740.8 |
| 2019 | #39 | 7,555 | 4,210.8 |
| 2020 | #42 | 6,855 | 3,971.4 |
| 2021 | #44 | 6,762 | 3,865.1 |
| 2022 | #42 | 6,738 | 3,859.1 |
| 2023 | #34 | 7,072 | 4,134.3 |
| 2024 | #28 | 7,464 | 4,332.3 |
| 2025 | #41 | 6,208 | 3,634.5 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Dylan.
- Cameron
- Austin
- Logan
- Mason
- Connor
- Jackson
- Cole
- Ryan
- Riley
- Blake
- Aiden
- Jordan
- Carter
- Evan
- Cody
- Grayson
- Zane
- Chase
- Ian
- Ashton
Dylan on lists
Famous Dylans
- Dylan Marlais Thomas
Welsh poet and writer.
- Mark Anthony "Dylan" McDermott
American actor.
- Dylan Davis Haines Axelrod
American baseball player.
- Dylan O'Brien
American actor.
- Dylan Thomas Sprouse
American actor; ; twin brother Cole Mitchell Sprouse.
- Dylan Baker
American actor.
- Charles "Dylan" Walsh
American actor.
- Dylan Saunders
American actor.
- Dylan Clark Marshall
American actor.
- Dylan Muse Sprayberry
American actor.
- Dylan William Moran
Irish comedian.
- Bob Dylan
American singer,songwriter.
- Dylan Lee Howe
English drummer; son of guitarist Steve Howe of Yes.
- Dylan Walters (b. 1969)
son of actress Jacki Weaver and John Walters.
- Dylan Bridges (b. 1984)
son of actor Beau Bridges.
- Dylan Thomas Andrews (b. 1990)
son of model Stephanie Seymour and Tommy Andrews.
- Dylan Bauer (b. 1990)
son of actor Steven Bauer.
- Dylan MacDonald (b. 1993)
son of comedian Norm MacDonald.
- Dylan Lee (b. 1997)
son of singer Tommy Lee and model/actress Pamela Anderson.
- Dylan Thomas Brosnan (b. 1997)
son of actor Pierce Brosnan.
- Dylan Vivian (b. 1997)
son of actress Jane Horrocks and playwright Nick Vivian.
- Dylan Thomas Jefferson Swansea Siegel (b. 1998)
son of TV movie critic Joel Siegel.
- Dylan Michael Douglas (b. 2000)
son of actors Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta,Jones.
- Dylan Joseph Young (b. 2000)
son of actress Finola Hughes and Russell Young.
- Dylan James Osmond
son of Jeremy Osmond; grandson of singer Donny Osmond.
- Dylan Bijkerk (b. 2002)
son of Dutch singer Waylon.
- Dylan Jennings (b. 2002)
son of Jeopardy! champ Ken Jennings.
- Dylan Rafferty Brown (b. 2003)
son of actor Ryan Brown.
- Dylan Paul Conner (b. 2006)
son of gymnasts Nadia Comaneci and Bart Conner.
- Dylan Matthew Odmark (adopted 2007)
son of singer Matt Odmark of Jars of Clay.
- Dylan Christopher Marshall (b. 2008)
son of actress Tracey Gold and Roby Marshall.
- Dylan William Martin (b. 2009)
son of TV presenter Paul Martin.
- Dylan Waters (b. 2009)
son of actress Emily Watson and Jack Waters.
- Dylan Jay DeMarcus (b. 2012)
son of musician Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts and beauty queen Allison Alderson.
- Dylan Rodgers (b. 2014)
son of TV anchor Diana Perez and Ducis.
- Dylan Christopher Minnette
American actor.
- Dylan Marron
American actor and online video creator.
Dylan in pop culture
- Dylan ail Don
Welsh mythological figure
- Dylan
a character in the Maximum Ride books by James Patterson
- Dylan McKay
character on TV's "Beverly Hills: 90210"
- Dylan Prescott "Dil" Pickles
character on animated series "Rugrats"
- Dylan McAvoy
character on American soap opera "Young and the Restless"
- Dylan Griffin
Brian's human son on TV's "Family's Guy"
- "Dylan Dog
" Italian horror comic and its main character
- Dylan Rhodes
character in the movie "Now You See Me 2"
- Dylan Maxwell
lead character in Netflix's "American Vandal"
- Dylan Faden
Important character and brother of the protagonist in the video game "Control" by Remedy Entertainment