Boys' name · peaked in 1958
Dale name popularity since 1925
279,452 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Dale (7.5% girls, 92.5% boys). Half of them were born in 1954 or earlier, so the typical Dale is about 72 years old in 2026. Dale peaked in 1958 as the #46 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 279,452
- Named Dale, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,410 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 92.5% boys
- 20,833 girls · 258,619 boys
- Most popular in
- South Dakota
- 3.60× its national share
Peak year is the year Dale made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Dale births per year, 1925–2025
1958 was the biggest year for Dale both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Steepest fall: Between 2001 and 2006, Dale's share of baby boys fell by 55%, from 1 in 3,170 to 1 in 7,090.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Dale's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Dale.
Decade by decade
Babies named Dale in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 407 | 12,507 | – |
| 1930s | 1,456 | 32,536 | #61 |
| 1940s | 5,586 | 46,815 | #61 |
| 1950s | 8,641 | 75,567 | #52 |
| 1960s | 3,029 | 50,423 | #83 |
| 1970s | 850 | 18,065 | #159 |
| 1980s | 436 | 10,487 | #219 |
| 1990s | 265 | 6,213 | #401 |
| 2000s | 105 | 3,629 | #662 |
| 2010s | 39 | 1,593 | #1,096 |
| 2020–25 | 19 | 784 | #1,410 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
51.8% of babies named Dale from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Dale is most popular
The index compares Dale's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Dale.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| South Dakota | 3.60× | 3,179 |
| North Dakota | 3.47× | 3,027 |
| Nebraska | 2.63× | 5,104 |
| Montana | 2.57× | 2,084 |
| Iowa | 2.51× | 8,844 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Dale's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Dale.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Dale (1958).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data