Comments
Meaning
Usage
Pronunciation
Famous
Impression
Other
My son's name is Dale in honor of the greatest Nascar driver in history, Dale Earnhardt Sr.
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Dale Spender (1943–2023) was an Australian feminist author, teacher, researcher and activist who wrote several books, including Man Made Language (1980), Women of Ideas and What Men Have Done to Them (1982) and Nattering on the Net: Women, Power and Cyberspace (1995). Dale Spender also helped to found a number of publishing imprints, series and journals – the most notable of which was Pandora Press, a feminist imprint of Routledge, in 1983, where she was editor-at-large. In 2001, Dale Spender co-founded the charity Second Chance Programme Fundraising Group for homeless women in Australia. As recognition of her work, Dale Spender was appointed Member of the Order of Australia in the 1996 Australia Day honours.
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Special Agent Dale Cooper is one of the main characters of the television show Twin Peaks, as well as the movie Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me and the reboot series Twin Peaks: The Return. He is portrayed by Kyle MacLachlan.
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My parents could not decide on a name and I remained nameless for two weeks after being born! I believe my Dad chose to name me Dale in the 1950's as he was a fan of the futuristic Flash Gordon sci-fi movie serial as a kid, Flash's girlfriend was Dale Arden. Also famous at the time was Dale Evans, a famous female Country music singer/actress married to Roy Rodgers. Even before it was fashionable, I loved that my name was gender neutral and one syllable. My sister's name is Dawn, and the two names pair well.
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For a case of women being named Dale, Dale Bozzio is the lead singer of new wave band Missing Persons.
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My name. I love it. I chose it because I'm genderfluid and it's one of the few unisex names I've come across that I think genuinely works for guys and girls both, and I'm pleased to say, I fly under the radar no matter how feminine or masculine I present myself with this name. Pretty sweet.
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Dale is a well-known name in Australia, not super common but you know at least one man named Dale. I think it's nice, simple and burly without being too butch or harsh :)
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I only like this name for a pet.
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Reminds me of Chip and Dale.
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VERY boring.
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HOW for a girl? Love for a boy, but I like Dayle more.
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Chip and Dale are cartoon characters.
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Starting to like this more for a girl.
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My name is Dale. Male, born 1975. I hated my name growing up, every Dale I knew was an old man in my eyes. I appreciate it now as it is not a very common name. Although, I'd like to know: how many of you other Dales out there get called Dave or Dan because people can't believe they heard you right when you have introduced yourself?
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I’ve heard this name recently on a girl. Think it’s beautiful and classic.
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Dale Gribble of King of the Hill!
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This is my grandmother’s name, born in 1944, female, mind you. I noticed a below comment about a Dale-Ann and that’s funny because sometimes she’s called Dale Ann too!
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I was born in 1954 and was named after my dad Dale. My parents thought I was going to be a boy. I grew up hating my name. When I got out of high school I did change it- added a Y so I would be Dayle. I worked quite a few years as Dayle. I still didn't like it. Then I decided to add my middle name on my first name and I was Dayle-Ann. I actually like it better that way. I get a lot of compliments and it is a very unique name. The older I get the more I like it.
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My name is Dayle, I am a female, born in 1989 (currently 30 years old) and I love my name, I’m also a very “girly girl”. I also love the spelling of it.
When I was growing up I didn’t love it as much as I do now. The school role would be called and the teacher would be searching for a boy, or I get the common answer when I say my name, still to this day, “that’s a boy's name.” To which I reply, no actually it’s also a girl's name, I’m living proof! It’s actually quite rude that people feel that they can comment on someone’s identity.
However, as I’ve become older I love that it is different and unique. I can say I’ve probably met one other female Dayle/Dale in my life and that’s it.
I always get lovely compliments on my name. Sometimes, I do get the odd people say “Gayle” or pronounce in like “Dayley” with a “y” on the end. I find that these people just aren’t very attentive to detail or aren’t actively listening and are maybe presuming it’s a female name that sounds similar.
All I can say is that, I’m glad there aren’t many people with my name, and even if I do get the occasional smart arse comment about it, it doesn’t bother me. It’s a strong, feminine name - it suits me and I love it.
5
When I was growing up I didn’t love it as much as I do now. The school role would be called and the teacher would be searching for a boy, or I get the common answer when I say my name, still to this day, “that’s a boy's name.” To which I reply, no actually it’s also a girl's name, I’m living proof! It’s actually quite rude that people feel that they can comment on someone’s identity.
However, as I’ve become older I love that it is different and unique. I can say I’ve probably met one other female Dayle/Dale in my life and that’s it.
I always get lovely compliments on my name. Sometimes, I do get the odd people say “Gayle” or pronounce in like “Dayley” with a “y” on the end. I find that these people just aren’t very attentive to detail or aren’t actively listening and are maybe presuming it’s a female name that sounds similar.
All I can say is that, I’m glad there aren’t many people with my name, and even if I do get the occasional smart arse comment about it, it doesn’t bother me. It’s a strong, feminine name - it suits me and I love it.
5
Dale sounds very handsome on a boy. I can't imagine it on a girl.
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My middle name is Dale, after the NASCAR driver, and I can agree it works better as a middle name than a first name. However, it functions really well as a double barrel name, like Mary-Ann. My mother calls me Erin-Dale at times and I think it sounds SO much better than just Erin.
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Dale Chihuly is a very famous glass artist whose artwork is frequently shown in public gardens, parks, museums, and hotels.
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A friendly reminder that a Dale is not a swamp but rather another word for valley, particularly in northern Europe.
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In 2018, 52 is the most common age for an American (U.S.) Dale who is registered male with the Social Security Administration. It is the 244th most common male first name for living U.S. citizens.
In 2018, 58 is the most common age for an American (U.S.) Dale who is registered female with the Social Security Administration. It is the 1, 428th most common female first name for living U.S. citizens.
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In 2018, 58 is the most common age for an American (U.S.) Dale who is registered female with the Social Security Administration. It is the 1, 428th most common female first name for living U.S. citizens.
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Dale Kirchner is a famous bearer.
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My name is Dale I'm a 34 year old half breed native American from Washington. I love my name and am named after my uncle that died when he was young. He was named after his uncle Dale who was killed fighting for his country in WWII. I'm proud of what my name means and stands for in my family.
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Dale Minami is a San Francisco-based lawyer best known for heading the legal team that overturned the conviction of Fred Korematsu, whose defiance of the World War II Japanese American internment order lead to Korematsu v. United States, one of the most controversial United States Supreme Court decisions of the 20th century.
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Dale Ishimoto was an American actor of Japanese descent. He was born in Delta, Colorado in 1923 and was raised in Guadalupe, California. After being sent to the Gila River internment camp in Arizona, Ishimoto volunteered to fight in World War II, joining the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. After two years, he was awarded a Purple Heart and given a medical discharge.
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My given name (first name) is "Dale". I am a male, guy person, of the masculine gender, born in 1951. Although I am quite American, I have a Scottish surname and my parents wanted their kids to have Scottish-sounding given names.
I grew up during the height of Dale Evans' popularity and I was often teased for having a girl's name. Obviously, kids my age were much more familiar with Dale Evans than Dale Carnegie. Aside from that I have not truly resented my name, though occasionally it finds its way into records or mailing lists as "Dave".
It was a source of minor pride that I didn't have to "share" my name with any classmates in school. There always seemed to multiple Daves, Bobs, Marys, Toms or Lindas in my classes, but never a second "Dale". This situation persisted through High School and my undergraduate years. Then, in a graduate Linear Algebra course, there was another "Dale"! In fact, a significant portion of the first class period was given over to discussing the presence of TWO Dales in the class. The instructor, who had grown up in one of the Eastern European countries (I forget which one), had some difficulty comprehending this - especially since the other Dale and I were very similar in appearance (tall, slim, brown hair, blue eyes, facial shape, etc). We could have passed for fraternal twins. The instructor explained that in his native culture, parents of a son and daughter sometimes gave them the respective male and female variants of the same name - e.g., such as "Patrick" and "Patricia" in English - and he was convinced that our parents must have played an inconsiderate joke when they named us. Yup, you probably guessed it: the other "Dale" was a female girl person of the opposite sex.
(We became friends and hung out in some of the same groups. On a few occasions we got to see confusion on the faces of people we introduced ourselves to - especially international students. I considered dating her, and speculated how kids might handle the case where both of their parents had the same name. But we both had started to establish romantic interests with others, and by the time the semester ended we were both engaged to those others.)
5
I grew up during the height of Dale Evans' popularity and I was often teased for having a girl's name. Obviously, kids my age were much more familiar with Dale Evans than Dale Carnegie. Aside from that I have not truly resented my name, though occasionally it finds its way into records or mailing lists as "Dave".
It was a source of minor pride that I didn't have to "share" my name with any classmates in school. There always seemed to multiple Daves, Bobs, Marys, Toms or Lindas in my classes, but never a second "Dale". This situation persisted through High School and my undergraduate years. Then, in a graduate Linear Algebra course, there was another "Dale"! In fact, a significant portion of the first class period was given over to discussing the presence of TWO Dales in the class. The instructor, who had grown up in one of the Eastern European countries (I forget which one), had some difficulty comprehending this - especially since the other Dale and I were very similar in appearance (tall, slim, brown hair, blue eyes, facial shape, etc). We could have passed for fraternal twins. The instructor explained that in his native culture, parents of a son and daughter sometimes gave them the respective male and female variants of the same name - e.g., such as "Patrick" and "Patricia" in English - and he was convinced that our parents must have played an inconsiderate joke when they named us. Yup, you probably guessed it: the other "Dale" was a female girl person of the opposite sex.
(We became friends and hung out in some of the same groups. On a few occasions we got to see confusion on the faces of people we introduced ourselves to - especially international students. I considered dating her, and speculated how kids might handle the case where both of their parents had the same name. But we both had started to establish romantic interests with others, and by the time the semester ended we were both engaged to those others.)
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It has been crossed with stern before to make Sterndale.
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This is my name, spelled Dayle. I am female born in 1977. I always hated it and can't figure out why someone would give this name to their baby girl. I guess it wouldn't be so bad as a middle name, but I hate it for a first. To this day I still get weird looks when I have to tell someone my name and have anxiety about meeting new people because of this. If I ever relocate I plan to use my middle name, but it would be weird to just change it as I have been living here all my life. Don't name your little girl Dayle. Believe me, she will never grow to like it.
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I am female and my name is Dale Ann. I was born in 1953 and my mom loved Dale Evans. Never was a fan of my name, as other females named Dale, all through my childhood, as in adulthood, before knowing me everyone assumed I was a male. Even when I introduce myself the person will usually repeat back and say Gale. So annoying. Even if I spell my name, they still say Gale. What?! After that I just let the person call me whatever. Why is it so hard to accept that a female can be named DALE. I get mail addressed to Mr., even with using my middle name (Ann). I guess it's easier for some people to think I am a male named Dale Ann than to think I am female with the name Dale. When my husband talks about me to someone that doesn't know me, he gets an uncomfortable look from the person not sure of how to react, thinking my husband is married to a male. I wished I had thought of changing it when I was young but what does it matter at this point- I'm 63. Oh well.
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The name Dale was given to 177 boys born in the US in 2015.
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My name is Dale. In a dictionary Dale means valley, which makes me feel like I am a bit of nothing. But to me Dale means a talented, competitive, caring, generous, smart, a little rebellious, and someone who can turn out great in the future. I might have been named after Dale Earnhart, but I know I don't want to be a Nascar racer. I'm only 14, so I get to decide what my future will be.
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Dale is a fictional character in Robert Kirkman's comic series "The Walking Dead".
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Dale is the name of Skeeter's little brother on the cartoon Doug.
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Dale is not a name that I'm crazy about. Dale Ann is my name. I've had this name for 60 years. I live with it. When I think of my beautiful mother and how much she loved me and named me Dale without any second thoughts except I was her baby girl named Dale. With that thought in mind I can't help, in some abstract way to love the name Dale. But I really love the name Amy.
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My first name is Dale and my middle name is Lois and I'm female. From grade school through high school when my name was first called during roll call, it was assumed I was a male. Even my name Lois was sometimes mispronounced as Lewis rather than Lois. To this very day, when I get a call from the doctor's office, the receptionist will ask for Mr. Rather than Mrs. And I constantly have to correct or remind any person who calls me and has never met me, that I'm female. I was born in 1955 and I assume my mom named me after Dale Evans... Roy Rogers' wife.
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One of the most unattractive names of all time, I can't see this name on a little kid or even a young adult, only on an old grandfather or a fat 40 year old redneck. Plus, it reminds me too much of Dale from King of The Hill, who is a character I really hate.
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Outdated and kind of plain, but for some reason I like it.
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I don't like this name, it sounds too old fashioned for a boy and sounds like a name for a redneck or a black person. Sounds too 'hillbillyish' for me.
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Hi, I'm new to this site & just saw the comments on the name Dale.
I'm a female Dale. Despite the name, nobody ever doubted my femininity. Dale Lynn is how I was called as a child. These are my personal impressions, a bit about the meaning & usage of, & a few famous (fictional) bearers of the name Dale, (plus one nonfictional famous person: me! I'm famous to my family anyway.)
I was born mid-1950's & named by my Dad, who had been an arden(t) Dale Arden fan, (with Flash Gordon being 2nd in his estimation), so Anonymous on 6/22/2007 & FMRadio on 5/18/2008 were correct on that count. Being "Dale Lynn" worked fine & I never knew my name to be out of the ordinary until I grew older, although there was a boy in my kindergarten class named Dale, & we just thought that was kinda "neat". I never thought of it as strictly a boy's name until later, when I did grow to hate the name for many years. I'm sorry to read that xsai felt the same way when she (?) posted on 5/17/2011.
The reason (mainly) that I came to hate my name was because people always assumed I was a boy. For instance, at the beginning of the school year, the teacher would call the role to begin learning her pupils' names, & invariably I'd hear, "Oh. I thought I had 12 boys. But I guess I only have 11, since you're not a boy. Unless you're an oddball who likes wearing dresses?" (ha ha, so funny.) Or, I would be signed up for summer camp, arrive, be in a group following a counselor to their various cabins, only to discover that I was assigned to a boys' cabin & things had to be rearranged. Things like that were always happening to me. Not to mention other kids loudly announcing, "Dale!? That's a BOY's name!" Therefore, I grew to hate my name for years, but have long since grown to love it again.
Dale Lynn means (my version) "Waterfall in the Valley." I think that's quite pretty. Dale is English or Irish for a person who lives in a valley and Lynn I've seen translated as from the Welsh llyn for lake or (on other sites) waterfall. My husband had called me "Day" since I was 14, & my children grew up hearing me called that. So, when my son blessed us with our first grandchild, they honored me by naming her Daylyn. I think THAT name is both unique & beautiful, just like its bearer!
As a child I did watch old Roy Rogers reruns & was grateful & pleased to know of Dale Evans as well. Over the years I would occasionally hear of somebody who knew or knew of some woman somewhere named Dale, but never personally met any of them until 10 years ago. A stranger was introduced and said, "Oh, you're the 2nd female Dale I've met here. There's one bartending up the street." I immediately ran the few blocks to the bar to meet this woman, & we commiserated for 1/2 hour or so about our name. That was kinda nice. The one & only other woman named Dale I've ever met.
So... I guess that about sums it up. It definitely IS a genderless name, but whenever I meet a man named Dale, I always shake his hand & say, "Oh, I'm so sorry your parents named you a girl's name!" They tend to look confused. Go figure.
OH! One other story: When I was very little, I loved to watch my Daddy shaving & getting ready for work in the mornings. He was a singer with a beautiful voice, and always sang away all morning as he prepared for work, with me as his little shadow who loved watching & listening to him. One song he sang every single morning went like this: "Da-le. Day-ay-ay-le." (can you guess the tune?) "Daylight's comin' & me wanna go home." I would ask, "Daddy, is that song really about ME?!" He would wink & say, "You tell me what YOU think: Da-le. Day-ay-ay-le. Daylight's comin & me wanna go home." & so on. I really did think the song was about me & my name for a number of years. I still like the Banana Boat song a lot.
OK, all that said, & sure enough, I've trumped everyone several times over on length.
10
I'm a female Dale. Despite the name, nobody ever doubted my femininity. Dale Lynn is how I was called as a child. These are my personal impressions, a bit about the meaning & usage of, & a few famous (fictional) bearers of the name Dale, (plus one nonfictional famous person: me! I'm famous to my family anyway.)
I was born mid-1950's & named by my Dad, who had been an arden(t) Dale Arden fan, (with Flash Gordon being 2nd in his estimation), so Anonymous on 6/22/2007 & FMRadio on 5/18/2008 were correct on that count. Being "Dale Lynn" worked fine & I never knew my name to be out of the ordinary until I grew older, although there was a boy in my kindergarten class named Dale, & we just thought that was kinda "neat". I never thought of it as strictly a boy's name until later, when I did grow to hate the name for many years. I'm sorry to read that xsai felt the same way when she (?) posted on 5/17/2011.
The reason (mainly) that I came to hate my name was because people always assumed I was a boy. For instance, at the beginning of the school year, the teacher would call the role to begin learning her pupils' names, & invariably I'd hear, "Oh. I thought I had 12 boys. But I guess I only have 11, since you're not a boy. Unless you're an oddball who likes wearing dresses?" (ha ha, so funny.) Or, I would be signed up for summer camp, arrive, be in a group following a counselor to their various cabins, only to discover that I was assigned to a boys' cabin & things had to be rearranged. Things like that were always happening to me. Not to mention other kids loudly announcing, "Dale!? That's a BOY's name!" Therefore, I grew to hate my name for years, but have long since grown to love it again.
Dale Lynn means (my version) "Waterfall in the Valley." I think that's quite pretty. Dale is English or Irish for a person who lives in a valley and Lynn I've seen translated as from the Welsh llyn for lake or (on other sites) waterfall. My husband had called me "Day" since I was 14, & my children grew up hearing me called that. So, when my son blessed us with our first grandchild, they honored me by naming her Daylyn. I think THAT name is both unique & beautiful, just like its bearer!
As a child I did watch old Roy Rogers reruns & was grateful & pleased to know of Dale Evans as well. Over the years I would occasionally hear of somebody who knew or knew of some woman somewhere named Dale, but never personally met any of them until 10 years ago. A stranger was introduced and said, "Oh, you're the 2nd female Dale I've met here. There's one bartending up the street." I immediately ran the few blocks to the bar to meet this woman, & we commiserated for 1/2 hour or so about our name. That was kinda nice. The one & only other woman named Dale I've ever met.
So... I guess that about sums it up. It definitely IS a genderless name, but whenever I meet a man named Dale, I always shake his hand & say, "Oh, I'm so sorry your parents named you a girl's name!" They tend to look confused. Go figure.
OH! One other story: When I was very little, I loved to watch my Daddy shaving & getting ready for work in the mornings. He was a singer with a beautiful voice, and always sang away all morning as he prepared for work, with me as his little shadow who loved watching & listening to him. One song he sang every single morning went like this: "Da-le. Day-ay-ay-le." (can you guess the tune?) "Daylight's comin' & me wanna go home." I would ask, "Daddy, is that song really about ME?!" He would wink & say, "You tell me what YOU think: Da-le. Day-ay-ay-le. Daylight's comin & me wanna go home." & so on. I really did think the song was about me & my name for a number of years. I still like the Banana Boat song a lot.
OK, all that said, & sure enough, I've trumped everyone several times over on length.
10
I don't know if this name would suit a girl very well, but maybe its just because I haven't one yet! It sounds masculine to me. It's a nice name though.
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The name Dale was given to 162 baby boys born in the US in 2012.
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I personally love this name. This is my name and I have no problem with it, and I'm female. The only thing that ever annoys me is people tend to pronounce it wrong. But I don't have to worry about another being in any classes I have! This name is masculine so a lot more boys are named it, or if someone talks about me to someone else they often assume I'm a boy. I can see how some women can get irritated, even more so if they're feminine.
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This is also my middle name. It was given to me in honor of a childhood friend of my dad's who was killed by a drunk driver while playing in his neighborhood. He was very young, and it always left an impression on my dad, so he wanted to name his first child Dale. I almost ruined that by being a girl, so it became my middle name. It is actually the only part of my whole name that I like. Nobody can pronounce my last name correctly, and my first name was shared by half of my school growing up, and so I feel I've lost possession of it.
I, too, found amusement by asking people to guess my middle name. Diane, Debra, Dorothy, etc. Too much fun.
This is the only part of my name I am keeping (in the process of legally changing my name), and I'm contemplating using it as my surname.
2
I, too, found amusement by asking people to guess my middle name. Diane, Debra, Dorothy, etc. Too much fun.
This is the only part of my name I am keeping (in the process of legally changing my name), and I'm contemplating using it as my surname.
2
This is my middle name. My mother spelt it Dayle because she was into that Kr8iVe spelling nonsense before it was popular. My grandfather's first name was Dale thus how I got it. But honestly, I've had no trouble with it, probably because it's a middle name rather than a first... It's pretty fun to have people who don't know it try to guess. Ironically, Danielle is the first thing out of people's mouths.
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MY NAME!
Hate it. Honestly do. I can't find anything good about it, really.
0
Hate it. Honestly do. I can't find anything good about it, really.
0
While Dale isn't the worst name to saddle a child with, it seems too lightweight for a first name. I don't know anyone named Dale, but quite a few whose middle name is Dale; born in the late 40's through the early 60's.
Frances Octavia Smith was Dale Evans real name, and I can't imagine a cowgirl named Frances Octavia!
1
Frances Octavia Smith was Dale Evans real name, and I can't imagine a cowgirl named Frances Octavia!
1
The only Dale I've ever met was a friendly middle-aged woman with a southern accent. I can easily imagine this name on either gender, but I can't imagine it on anyone below forty.
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Dale Harding is a character in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey. He is an effeminate, well-educated man.
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This is a character (and my favorite) from King of the Hill.
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This, to me and most people I know, is a very masculine name. I'm not fond of it because it makes me think of a con artist or a flaky car salesman.
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This is my name, and as much as I attempt to like it, I simply cannot manage it. I find it comedic, short, and a little too blunt. Many people I meet state that this is strictly a boys name, which also irritates me (as I am clearly a female). Why my parents decided to name me this, I cannot say. Please, do not call your little girl this, she will live to regret it.
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Dale Arden, Flash's love interest in the "Flash Gordon" comic strips, television shows, and movies.
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Dale Earnhardt Jr is a very popular NASCAR race car driver. He used to drive the number 8 Budweiser Chevrolet at DEI but then left to join Hendrick Motorsports and now drives the number 88 car.
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This name sounds strictly masculine to me. It might work on a tomboyish girl, but not really on a woman, even if she's masculine. Manly-sounding names just don't sound all that edgy on a woman who is getting gray hair and wrinkles, so I'd pick something people are culturally accustomed to hearing on a female.
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Reminds me of a racist hillbilly.
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A famous bearer is fictional character Dale is from the TV show "Chip´n´Dale: Rescue Rangers".
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My Grandfather, Uncle (Jr.), and cousin (III) are all named Dale. To be honest, I don't really care for the name. The sound of it is short and it feels incomplete to me. Plus I don't really care for the sound of it. It's not a terrible name though.
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This is my husband's name, he was born in 1983 and fellow users are right, it wasn't common. People now still have to ask me to repeat his name because they think they have heard wrong. Not Daniel, or Steve, or Phil. Is different. I think it's lovely for a girl as well, although I would feel weird calling a girl Dale after yelling Dale at my husband for all these years, haha.
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Dale was the name of the heroine and companion (and possibly love-interest) in the Flash Gordon Serials popular in the 1930's and 1940's.
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Could be a modernised form of the Old English name 'Daegel' - the meaning of which is uncertain.
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This is my brother's name. He was born in 1986, so it is a very unusual name since most boys that age seem to be named Daniel or Josh. It is nice, classic name.
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I have an aunt named Dale. She was named after Roy Rogers wife, Dale Evans. I think it's pretty and unusual for a girl.
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The word dale comes from the old English dæl meaning curve or bend.
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Comments are left by users of this website. They are not checked for accuracy.