Dale

maleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Dale: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Dale: Recorded since 1957, it reached #75 in 1988, and it stood at #2,671 in 2024.

4registrars recorded it
117times a registrar ranked it
68years from first to last
#75highest recorded position
20groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2001

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#2350
1997	#3824
1998	#3142
2001	#3998

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among boys in Republic of Ireland in 43 of the 55 years from 1968 to 2022.

In 2022: #657 among boys in Republic of Ireland, #2529 among boys in England and Wales.

Official data from 4 national registrars across 4 regions, 1957–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1957
First recorded at #100 among boys in New South Wales, Australia in 1957 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
New South Wales, Australia · Boys
Highest recorded1957–1991
Highest recorded position: #75 among boys in New South Wales, Australia, in 1988 (recorded 1957–1991).
New South Wales, Australia · Boys
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #2671 among boys in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Boys

Dale appears in 5 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is Republic of Ireland · Boys, with 43 ranked years and 496 births registered; the earliest is New South Wales, Australia · Boys, from 1957.

Dale across 5 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Dale's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
Republic of Ireland · Boys	#267 (1968)	#89 (1994)	#657 (2022)	43 of 55	496 (1968–2022)	62 (1994)
New South Wales, Australia · Boys	#100 (1957)	#75 (1988)	#100 (1991)	26 of 35	2,100 (1957–1991)	111 (1988)
England and Wales · Boys	#117 (1996)	#117 (1996)	#2671 (2024)	29 of 29	1,608 (1996–2024)	373 (1996)
Northern Ireland · Boys	#143 (1997)	#111 (1998)	#358 (2016)	15 of 20	118 (1997–2016)	20 (1998)
England and Wales · Girls	#2350 (1996)	#2350 (1996)	#3998 (2001)	4 of 6	16 (1996–2001)	6 (1996)

Dale by decade in Republic of Ireland · Boys

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Dale in Republic of Ireland · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1960s	3	1 of 10	3
1970s	27	6 of 10	5
1980s	46	7 of 10	7
1990sbusiest	296	10 of 10	30
2000s	75	10 of 10	8
2010s	45	8 of 10	6
2020s	4	1 of 10	4

Across Republic of Ireland · Boys, the 1990s were its busiest decade, averaging 30 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 1993 and 1994, when recorded births rose by 42, from 20 to 62.

See the names Republic of Irelandhas recorded the most births with →

Dale appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 4 regions, from 1957 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #75 in New South Wales, Australia in 1988.

Dale's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	male	#2671	8	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#3523	5	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#2529	8	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#2301	9	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#2076	10	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#2488	8	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#1610	15	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#1703	14	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#1570	16	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#996	29	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#1327	19	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#1294	19	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#1313	19	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#999	27	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#758	39	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#711	42	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#668	45	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#742	37	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#663	41	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#691	37	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#500	52	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#423	61	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#443	50	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	female	#3998	3	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	male	#359	68	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#330	77	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#266	106	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	female	#3142	4	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#229	133	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	female	#3824	3	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#147	241	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#2350	6	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	male	#117	373	High	Verified
1991	New South Wales, Australia	male	#100	80	Insufficient	Not yet available
1988	New South Wales, Australia	male	#75	111	Insufficient	Not yet available
1987	New South Wales, Australia	male	#81	103	Insufficient	Not yet available
1986	New South Wales, Australia	male	#94	79	Insufficient	Not yet available
1985	New South Wales, Australia	male	#85	85	Insufficient	Not yet available
1984	New South Wales, Australia	male	#99	74	Insufficient	Not yet available
1983	New South Wales, Australia	male	#91	80	Insufficient	Not yet available
1982	New South Wales, Australia	male	#78	95	Insufficient	Not yet available
1981	New South Wales, Australia	male	#83	93	Insufficient	Not yet available
1980	New South Wales, Australia	male	#91	82	Insufficient	Not yet available
1979	New South Wales, Australia	male	#86	88	Insufficient	Not yet available
1976	New South Wales, Australia	male	#95	72	Insufficient	Not yet available
1975	New South Wales, Australia	male	#94	72	Insufficient	Not yet available
1974	New South Wales, Australia	male	#87	86	Insufficient	Not yet available
1973	New South Wales, Australia	male	#95	73	Insufficient	Not yet available
1972	New South Wales, Australia	male	#89	91	Insufficient	Not yet available
1970	New South Wales, Australia	male	#98	70	Insufficient	Not yet available
1969	New South Wales, Australia	male	#90	77	Insufficient	Not yet available
1968	New South Wales, Australia	male	#92	72	Insufficient	Not yet available
1965	New South Wales, Australia	male	#87	69	Insufficient	Not yet available
1964	New South Wales, Australia	male	#94	63	Insufficient	Not yet available
1962	New South Wales, Australia	male	#88	75	Insufficient	Not yet available
1961	New South Wales, Australia	male	#89	74	Insufficient	Not yet available
1960	New South Wales, Australia	male	#87	77	Insufficient	Not yet available
1959	New South Wales, Australia	male	#76	96	Insufficient	Not yet available
1957	New South Wales, Australia	male	#100	63	Insufficient	Not yet available
2016	Northern Ireland	male	#358	4	High	Verified
2011	Northern Ireland	male	#375	3	High	Verified
2010	Northern Ireland	male	#267	6	High	Verified
2009	Northern Ireland	male	#200	11	High	Verified
2008	Northern Ireland	male	#328	4	High	Verified
2007	Northern Ireland	male	#315	4	High	Verified
2005	Northern Ireland	male	#231	6	High	Verified
2004	Northern Ireland	male	#192	8	High	Verified
2003	Northern Ireland	male	#229	5	High	Verified
2002	Northern Ireland	male	#186	7	High	Verified
2001	Northern Ireland	male	#151	11	High	Verified
2000	Northern Ireland	male	#189	7	High	Verified
1999	Northern Ireland	male	#158	10	High	Verified
1998	Northern Ireland	male	#111	20	High	Verified
1997	Northern Ireland	male	#143	12	High	Verified
2022	Republic of Ireland	male	#657	4	High	Verified
2017	Republic of Ireland	male	#495	6	High	Verified
2016	Republic of Ireland	male	#713	3	High	Verified
2015	Republic of Ireland	male	#699	3	High	Verified
2014	Republic of Ireland	male	#550	5	High	Verified
2013	Republic of Ireland	male	#404	9	High	Verified
2012	Republic of Ireland	male	#718	3	High	Verified
2011	Republic of Ireland	male	#407	9	High	Verified
2010	Republic of Ireland	male	#448	7	High	Verified
2009	Republic of Ireland	male	#386	9	High	Verified
2008	Republic of Ireland	male	#368	10	High	Verified
2007	Republic of Ireland	male	#629	3	High	Verified
2006	Republic of Ireland	male	#384	6	High	Verified
2005	Republic of Ireland	male	#448	4	High	Verified
2004	Republic of Ireland	male	#390	5	High	Verified
2003	Republic of Ireland	male	#305	7	High	Verified
2002	Republic of Ireland	male	#267	8	High	Verified
2001	Republic of Ireland	male	#226	10	High	Verified
2000	Republic of Ireland	male	#188	13	High	Verified
1999	Republic of Ireland	male	#180	15	High	Verified
1998	Republic of Ireland	male	#121	31	High	Verified
1997	Republic of Ireland	male	#123	37	High	Verified
1996	Republic of Ireland	male	#106	53	High	Verified
1995	Republic of Ireland	male	#101	50	High	Verified
1994	Republic of Ireland	male	#89	62	High	Verified
1993	Republic of Ireland	male	#163	20	High	Verified
1992	Republic of Ireland	male	#202	10	High	Verified
1991	Republic of Ireland	male	#216	8	High	Verified
1990	Republic of Ireland	male	#203	10	High	Verified
1989	Republic of Ireland	male	#190	10	High	Verified
1988	Republic of Ireland	male	#254	5	High	Verified
1987	Republic of Ireland	male	#303	3	High	Verified
1986	Republic of Ireland	male	#230	7	High	Verified
1984	Republic of Ireland	male	#217	8	High	Verified
1982	Republic of Ireland	male	#286	4	High	Verified
1980	Republic of Ireland	male	#222	9	High	Verified
1979	Republic of Ireland	male	#324	3	High	Verified
1978	Republic of Ireland	male	#283	4	High	Verified
1976	Republic of Ireland	male	#258	5	High	Verified
1975	Republic of Ireland	male	#225	8	High	Verified
1974	Republic of Ireland	male	#321	3	High	Verified
1973	Republic of Ireland	male	#290	4	High	Verified
1968	Republic of Ireland	male	#267	3	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
New South Wales, Australia hub — collected by NSW Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages
Northern Ireland hub — collected by NISRA
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 4 registrars between 1957 and 2024, ranked in 62 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #75, first reached in 1988.

It held a top-100 place in 27 years, 10 of them consecutive.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 373 births, registered in England and Wales in 1996.

Its record falls into 6 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 2 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1968, and 40 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Daksh · #779, 20y
Dalal · #3015, 16y
Daley · #398, 27y
Dali · #2073, 15y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 4 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Sorcha · #74, 58y
Conall · #77, 60y
Dara · #72, 62y
Magdalena · #71, 64y

Also first recorded in the 1950s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1950 and 1959.

Dorothy · #75, 65y
Warwick · #75, 37y
Adrienne · #74, 63y
Allen · #76, 68y

Dale was ranked #75 in New South Wales, Australia · Boys in 1988. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Dale and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Dale without appearing here.

Dale moved ahead of

Ross Compare
In 2023 they stood at #3523 and #2160 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2024 that had become #2671 and #3254.
Gregory Compare
In 2016 they stood at #713 and #713 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 2017 that had become #495 and #710.
Roger Compare
In 2016 they stood at #629 and #629 in Republic of Ireland · Boys; by 2017 that had become #495 and #710.
Ashley Compare
In 2008 they stood at #315 and #315 in Northern Ireland · Boys; by 2009 that had become #200 and #390.

Moved ahead of Dale

Isak Compare
In 2022 they stood at #2529 and #3449 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2023 that had become #3523 and #1461.
Darragh Compare
In 2018 they stood at #1610 and #1991 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2019 that had become #2488 and #974.
Lars Compare
In 2018 they stood at #1610 and #1683 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2019 that had become #2488 and #1316.
Murray Compare
In 2018 they stood at #1610 and #1991 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2019 that had become #2488 and #1316.

Moved the opposite way to Dale

Aaron Compare
Between 1968 and 2022 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Dale went from #267 to #657 while Aaron went from #207 to #62.
Adam Compare
Between 1968 and 2022 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Dale went from #267 to #657 while Adam went from #177 to #22.
Alexander Compare
Between 1968 and 2022 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Dale went from #267 to #657 while Alexander went from #108 to #40.
Benjamin Compare
Between 1968 and 2022 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Dale went from #267 to #657 while Benjamin went from #161 to #81.

Moved the same way as Dale

Alfred Compare
Between 1968 and 2022 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Dale went from #267 to #657 and Alfred from #177 to #657.
Denis Compare
Between 1968 and 2022 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Dale went from #267 to #657 and Denis from #27 to #178.
Edward Compare
Between 1968 and 2022 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Dale went from #267 to #657 and Edward from #22 to #112.
Frank Compare
Between 1968 and 2022 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Dale went from #267 to #657 and Frank from #207 to #306.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 4 regions, from 1957 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #75 in New South Wales, Australia in 1988. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Dale

Dale at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Dale across 5 official records

Dale by decade in Republic of Ireland · Boys

Dale appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1950s

Names published alongside Dale

Dale and the names beside it

Dale moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Dale

Moved the opposite way to Dale

Moved the same way as Dale

Dale at a glance

Dale across 5 official records

Dale by decade in Republic of Ireland · Boys

Dale appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1950s

Names published alongside Dale

Dale and the names beside it

Dale moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Dale

Moved the opposite way to Dale

Moved the same way as Dale