| Type: | town |
| Dattening | |
| Lga: | Shire of Pingelly |
| Local Map: | yes |
| Zoom: | 11 |
| Est: | 1908 |
| Postcode: | 6308 |
| Elevation: | 320 |
| Dist1: | 178 |
| Dir1: | ESE |
| Location1: | Perth |
| Dist2: | 20 |
| Dir2: | W |
| Location2: | Pingelly |
| Fedgov: | O'Connor |
| Stategov: | Wagin |
| State: | wa |
| Coordinates: | -32.533°N 116.893°W |
Dattening is a small town in the Shire of Pingelly, between Boddington and Pingelly in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia.
During the 1890s a farmer named Norris Taylor sunk a well in the locality and the area was initially known as Taylor's Well.[1]
By 1906 the local progress association petitioned for a townsite to be surveyed and blocks were subdivided in 1907. Blocks were sold in 1908 with 20 "working men's blocks" being put on the market with prices between £8 and £14.[2] The name, Dattening, was suggested as an alternative to Taylor's Well after this name had been rejected because it duplicated the name of a town in South Australia. The Morambine Road Board suggested the name Dattening, being the Aboriginal name of a spring in the vicinity of the well. The meaning of the name is unknown. The town was gazetted in 1908.[3] The town residents petitioned for the name of the town to be changed to Taylor's Well in 1925,[4] and 1929 but were unsuccessful on both occasions.