Dallin likely comes from an English surname, possibly related to valley or dale-based place roots.
Dallin is a surname-turned-given-name with roots in the Old English word dæl, meaning valley, and the suffix -ing or -in denoting a place or a person from that place. As a topographic surname it identified families who lived in or near a valley, and it was carried across Britain and later into the American colonies as the English-speaking world settled and spread. The name gained particular cultural visibility through Cyrus Dallin, the acclaimed American sculptor born in 1861 in Utah, whose monumental bronze statues — most famously Appeal to the Great Spirit outside the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston — gave the Dallin surname a legacy of artistry and craftsmanship in American public life.
In the twentieth century, Dallin gained significant traction as a given name within the Latter-day Saint community, partly through association with Dallin Oaks, the prominent LDS apostle and legal scholar who became one of the faith's most recognized voices. In Mormon naming culture, which tends to favor surnames, place names, and Book of Mormon names as given names, Dallin fits naturally alongside Brigham, Hyrum, and similar choices that carry a sense of pioneer heritage and faith tradition. Beyond its LDS associations, Dallin has appeal as a strong, clean American name — two syllables, easy to spell, and free of the cultural ambiguity that can complicate names with strong ethnic markings in one direction.
It sounds athletic and capable without being aggressive, and it wears well across ages. Parents in the American West and Mountain states are particularly drawn to it, where the name's topographic roots feel at home in a landscape of actual valleys and mountain ranges.