Dylan

Where the name comes from

• Welsh
  Probably connected with the tide. Scholars think it was first the name of a Welsh sea god, meaning "toward the tide." Popular meanings such as "son of the sea" or "born from the ocean" are modern interpretations, not literal translations.
  Probably the Welsh prefix dy- plus llanw ("tide, flow"). Sources disagree about what the prefix means.
  The name comes from Welsh legend. In the medieval Welsh tales called the Mabinogi, written down about 850 years ago, a baby named Dylan plunges into the sea as soon as he is baptized. He swims like a fish and is called "Dylan, son of the Wave." The phrase "son of the wave" is his epithet, or nickname, not a translation of the name Dylan itself.

Dylan across traditions

• Welsh mythology. Dylan ail Don is a sea figure in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi. He is the son of Arianrhod and the twin of Lleu Llaw Gyffes. He is sometimes described as a sea god.
• Modern Welsh and English-speaking use. Dylan was rare as a given name, even in Wales, until the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas became famous. Bob Dylan, who took his stage name from the poet, spread it further. It became a common American boy's name from the 1990s on. Some American girls are named Dylan too, but far fewer.
• Spanish-speaking and Latin American use. Dylan is used in its original spelling in Spanish-speaking communities. In Puerto Rico it has been one of the ten most popular boys' names.

Who carried it

• Dylan ail Don (Medieval Welsh legend (written down about 850 years ago)): A sea figure in the Mabinogi and the original source of the name.
• Dylan Thomas (1914–1953): Welsh poet whose fame made the name known around the world.
• Bob Dylan (Born 1941): American singer-songwriter, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, who took his stage name from Dylan Thomas. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016.

Forms in other languages

Dylan, Dilan, Dillan, Dylon

Dylan in letter-number systems

Hebrew, Greek and other traditions gave every letter a number, and read meaning into the totals. These are the counts, computed; the readings are inside the Innerverse.