Dalila
A feminine name of Philistine origin meaning "delicate" or "slender".
Name Census estimates that about 5,677 living Americans carry the first name Dalila. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dalila today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dalila births was 2009 (207 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dalila. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Dalila with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
5.7K
~ 1 in 60,376 Americans
Peak year
2009
207 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,328
Tracked since 1944
Census
Dalila in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,049 people with the first name Dalila, which placed it at #2,861 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#2,861
National first-name rank
People counted
8.0K
8,049 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
81.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dalila
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dalila is Hispanic at 81.6%. The next largest groups are White (11.8%) and Black (4.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Dalila described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Dalila at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino81.6% · 6,569
- White11.8% · 948
- Black or African American4.8% · 388
- Two or more races1.1% · 85
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 42
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 17
Popularity
Dalila: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dalila from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,525 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Dalila remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dalila by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Dalila during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dalilas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Dalila, while Utah, Arkansas, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 184 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dalila
Dalila is a feminine given name with origins in the ancient Philistine culture of the Levant region. It is derived from the Hebrew word "dalal," which means "to languish" or "to weaken." The name first appeared in the biblical Book of Judges, where Dalila was a Philistine woman who seduced Samson and betrayed him to the Philistines by cutting his hair, leading to his capture and imprisonment.
In the biblical account, Dalila is portrayed as a temptress and a symbol of seduction and betrayal. However, the name has also been interpreted to mean "delicate" or "tender" in some cultures. The name has been used across various regions and cultures, including the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dalila is in the ancient Hebrew text of the Book of Judges, which is believed to have been written around the 7th or 8th century BCE. The story of Samson and Dalila has been retold and depicted in various artistic forms throughout history, including literature, paintings, and operas.
Notable historical figures with the name Dalila include Dalila Iardé (1923-2022), a French actress known for her roles in films such as "Les Visiteurs" and "Amélie." Another prominent figure was Dalila di Lazzaro (1953-2011), an Italian model and actress who appeared in films like "Flavia the Heretic" and "The Nude Princess."
In the world of music, Dalila Avilés Bravo (1915-2014) was a Mexican singer and actress who performed in various mariachi ensembles and films during the golden age of Mexican cinema. Dalila Waco (born 1985) is a contemporary Mexican singer-songwriter known for her blend of pop and alternative rock styles.
In the realm of literature, Dalila Tucić (1914-1998) was a Serbian writer and poet whose works explored themes of love, war, and the human condition. Her poetry collections, such as "Poslednja idila" (The Last Idyll), earned her critical acclaim and recognition.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Dalila, each leaving their mark in their respective fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of cultural legacy associated with this ancient name.
People
Dalila + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dalila as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Dalila: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dalila?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,677 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dalila going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 60,376 US residents.
Is Dalila a common name?
We classify Dalila as "Rare". It ranks above 96.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,903 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dalila most popular?
The single biggest year for Dalila was 2009, when 207 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dalila is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dalila in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,049 people with the name Dalila, or 2.66 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,861 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Dalila in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Dalila?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dalila appears almost entirely female. Of the 8,048 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Dalila?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dalila is Hispanic at 81.6%. The next largest groups are White (11.8%) and Black (4.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Dalila most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Dalila in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.6% (6,569 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Dalila in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dalila a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dalila in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Dalila still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dalila in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Dalila can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Dalila as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Dalila, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.