The Dillon surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 50,465 people carried this name — #683 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 5,840 people counted. That is up 3% from 48,833 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Dillon surname
From the Irish surname, from Breton Leon and Norman Léon, named after Sir Henry de Leon of the Viscounty of Léon. Unrelated to the name Dylan, although the homophony may result in the two being considered variant spellings of the same name.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Dillon» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Ireland’s birth registers, 1890
Ireland registered 117 births for the Dillon name in 1890.
They were registered in all four provinces, most of all in Leinster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 5,200 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time. One of them was indexed under another spelling of the name. The Registrar-General’s note on the name: “Dublin, Limerick, Antrim, and Galway.”
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born, 1890
Registrar-General for Ireland, «Special Report on Surnames in Ireland» (R. E. Matheson, 1894), births index of 1890 — public domain.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 615 people named Dillon live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 151 people named Dillon.
13 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 25 départements, most often Paris.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
32 people named Dillon live in Switzerland.
They live in 5 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Bern.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In the Nordic population registers
26 people named Dillon is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In print
Dillon in American newspapers,
1918.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 470,240 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Dillon,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Henry Dillon, 8th Viscount Dillon 1668–1713 · aristocrat -
Charles Dillon, 10th Viscount Dillon 1701–1741 · military personnel -
Arthur Dillon 1750–1794 · military personnel -
Henry Dillon, 13th Viscount Dillon 1777–1832 · politician -
William Henry Dillon 1779–1857 · naval officer
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 289 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Dillon.
- Dillard 31,021 · U.S. census
- Dille 2,093 · U.S. census
- Diller 4,306 · U.S. census
- Dillier 118 · U.S. census
- Dillinger 2,811 · U.S. census
- Dillmann 194 · U.S. census
- Dilly 668 · U.S. census
- Dimanche 473 · U.S. census
- Dime 111 · U.S. census
- Dimech 152 · U.S. census
- Dimeglio 1,358 · U.S. census
- Dimino 1,108 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Dillon is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.