Del
An English surname and masculine given name of French origin meaning "from the."
Name Census estimates that about 3,375 living Americans carry the first name Del. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 86.5% of registrations being male. The average person named Del today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Del births was 1958 (168 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Del. 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.
People living today
3.4K
~ 1 in 101,557 Americans
Peak year
1958
168 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,903
Tracked since 1909
Gender
Gender distribution for Del
Del leans heavily male at 86.5% of total registrations, but 672 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Del as a male name
- Ranked #6,903 in 2024
- 12 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1958 (143 births)
Del as a female name
- Ranked #8,734 in 1973
- 5 female births in 1973
- Peak: 1956 (31 births)
Popularity
Del: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Del from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 1,311 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Del 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 Del during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 22 states and territories. California, Washington, Texas recorded the most babies named Del, while South Carolina, Maryland, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 60 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Del
The name Del is a diminutive form of names like Delmar, Delroy, or Delmore. It is derived from the French word "de la" meaning "of the" or "from the", often used to indicate someone's place of origin. The name has its roots in the medieval era when surnames were just emerging, and people were often referred to by their place of birth or residence.
Del's etymology can be traced back to the Latin word "de" meaning "from" or "of". This Latin preposition was commonly used in medieval times to form place names and surnames, such as de Ville (of the town) or de la Rivière (of the river). The shortened form "Del" likely emerged as a nickname or informal way of addressing someone with a longer place-based surname.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Del can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landowners and property in England compiled in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. The entry "Del de Burgo" refers to someone from the borough or town.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the first name Del. One of the earliest was Del Cano (c. 1498-1526), a Spanish navigator who completed the first circumnavigation of the world after the death of Ferdinand Magellan. Another was Del Shannon (1934-1990), an American singer-songwriter best known for his 1961 hit "Runaway".
In the realm of sports, Del Ennis (1925-1996) was an American professional baseball player who spent most of his career with the Philadelphia Phillies. Del Rice (1934-1983) was an American football player and coach, playing for the Baltimore Colts and later serving as head coach for the New England Patriots.
In the literary world, Del Millers (1868-1938) was an American author and screenwriter who wrote several novels and screenplays, including the 1926 film "Mantrap". Del Shores (born 1958) is a contemporary American playwright, actor, and author known for his works exploring LGBTQ+ themes.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Del
People
Del + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Del 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
Del: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Del?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,375 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Del 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 101,557 US residents.
Is Del a common name?
We classify Del as "Rare". It ranks above 95.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,961 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Del most popular?
The single biggest year for Del was 1958, when 168 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Del is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Del a male name?
Yes, 86.5% of people registered as Del 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.
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.