Baby Names:

Dylan

Meaning: Sea

Origin: Welsh

Alternate spellings: Dillon, Dylin, Dylen, Dillan

Dylan is a beautiful Welsh name that probably means “sea,” making it a perfect pick if you’re water-lovers. It’s also a name that sounds modern but has truly ancient roots. Dylan is a figure in the Mabinogion, a collection of Welsh tales that were written down for the first time in the Middle Ages, but have a long oral tradition prior to that. Dylan made it onto the charts for the first time in 1966. The name got a huge boost in 1991 – ohmigod! – the year after Beverly Hills, 90210 debuted with popular character Dylan McKay. (In 1981 it was #283; by 1991 it was #46.) Dylan still sounds as cool today as Dylan McKay made it seem on the TV show.