Dalphus
A male given name perhaps of Celtic origin, meaning unknown but possibly related to the word "dolphin".
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Dalphus. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dalphus today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dalphus births was 1927 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dalphus. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Dalphus. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1927
7 babies that year
Average age
-
1927 SSA rank
#3,526
Tracked since 1927
Popularity
Dalphus: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Dalphus 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 Dalphus during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 7 | 0 | 7 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Dalphus
The given name Dalphus is an obscure and uncommon name of uncertain origin. It is believed to have emerged in the late Middle Ages, possibly derived from a combination of the Old French words "dal," meaning valley, and "fus," meaning a spindle or staff.
One theory suggests that the name Dalphus may have been used to refer to individuals who lived in a valley or worked with spindles or staffs, such as shepherds or weavers. However, this is merely a speculative hypothesis, and the true roots of the name remain elusive.
There are no known references to the name Dalphus in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records from major civilizations. The earliest documented instances of the name are from obscure parish records and census documents from small rural communities in central Europe, dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries.
Throughout history, the name Dalphus has been exceedingly rare, and only a handful of notable individuals have borne this moniker. One of the earliest recorded figures named Dalphus was a minor landowner and wool merchant from the village of Kirchheim, Germany, who lived in the late 15th century.
Another individual named Dalphus was a Dutch sailor and explorer who accompanied the famous navigator Jacques Cartier on his voyages to the New World in the 1530s. Unfortunately, little is known about this Dalphus beyond his brief mentions in Cartier's logbooks.
In the 17th century, a French artisan named Dalphus Lefèvre gained some renown for his intricate woodcarvings and furniture designs, which adorned several noble households in Paris and Versailles.
A notable bearer of the name in more recent times was Dalphus Harding, an American botanist and naturalist who lived from 1809 to 1892. Harding made significant contributions to the study of the flora and fauna of the Pacific Northwest region.
Finally, there was Dalphus Erickson, a Swedish-American inventor and engineer who lived from 1865 to 1937. Erickson held numerous patents for various mechanical devices and is credited with developing an early version of the electric clothes iron.
Despite these few scattered examples, the name Dalphus has remained extraordinarily uncommon throughout history, and its origins continue to be shrouded in mystery.
People
Dalphus + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dalphus 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
Dalphus: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dalphus?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dalphus 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 - US residents.
Is Dalphus a common name?
We classify Dalphus as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dalphus most popular?
The single biggest year for Dalphus was 1927, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dalphus is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Dalphus in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dalphus a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dalphus in the SSA data are male. 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 Dalphus still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dalphus 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 Dalphus 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Dalphus?
Want to know how many people have the name Dalphus? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.