Dalton

"Valley settlement" — a rugged English place-name turned modern American favorite

Dalton is an Old English habitational surname from dael (valley) and tun (settlement), meaning settlement in the valley. It is the name of several villages in northern England, and was the surname of John Dalton, the pioneering English chemist who proposed atomic theory. As a given name, Dalton rose dramatically in the United States in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, following the trend of rugged English place-name surnames. The name has a confident, Western-leaning character — sturdy without being heavy, and accessible without being ordinary.