Delano
Of Spanish origin, a surname translated as "from the meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 4,074 living Americans carry the first name Delano. It is a predominantly male name (98.7% of registrations). The average person named Delano today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Delano births was 1933 (329 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Delano. 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 Delano with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Delano is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 71 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
4.1K
~ 1 in 84,132 Americans
Peak year
1933
329 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,612
Tracked since 1914
Census
Delano in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,622 people with the first name Delano, which placed it at #4,922 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
#4,922
National first-name rank
People counted
3.6K
3,622 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
54.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Delano
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Delano is Black at 54.7%. The next largest groups are White (24.7%) and Hispanic (10.1%). 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 Delano 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 Delano at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American54.7% · 1,981
- White24.7% · 895
- Hispanic or Latino10.1% · 366
- Two or more races5.1% · 184
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.8% · 102
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 94
Gender
Gender distribution for Delano
Delano leans heavily male at 98.7% of total registrations, but 71 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Delano as a male name
- Ranked #3,612 in 2024
- 31 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1933 (316 births)
Delano as a female name
- Ranked #10,779 in 1980
- 5 female births in 1980
- Peak: 1933 (13 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Delano leans strongly male. 3,543 people counted with this name were male (97.8%), compared with 78 female bearers (2.2%).
Popularity
Delano: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Delano from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 1,191 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Delano 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 Delano during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Delanos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 32 states and territories. Michigan, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Delano, while Utah, Kansas, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 63 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Delano
The name Delano has its origins in the Spanish language and is believed to have emerged during the late medieval period. It is derived from the phrase "de la no," which translates to "from the no" or "from the brook." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to individuals who resided near a small stream or brook.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Delano can be traced back to the 13th century in the region of Castile, Spain. During this time, it was common for individuals to adopt surnames based on their place of origin or notable geographical features in their vicinity.
In the 15th century, the name Delano gained prominence when it was mentioned in the historical chronicles of the Spanish explorer and navigator, Christopher Columbus. The chronicles document a prominent figure named Pedro Delano, who accompanied Columbus on his second voyage to the Americas in 1493.
Another notable individual bearing the name Delano was Francisco Delano, a Spanish military officer who served under King Philip II during the Spanish conquest of the Philippines in the late 16th century. Delano played a significant role in the establishment of Spanish rule in the archipelago.
In the 17th century, the name Delano found its way to the American colonies through the migration of Spanish settlers. One of the most famous individuals with this name was Don Diego Delano, a wealthy landowner and merchant who settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the mid-1600s. Delano's descendants went on to become influential figures in New England's political and economic affairs.
During the 18th century, a notable figure named Franklin Delano emerged in the American colonies. Born in 1742, he was a merchant and politician who served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and played a crucial role in the American Revolutionary War. Franklin Delano's great-grandson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945), would later become the 32nd President of the United States, serving from 1933 to 1945.
Throughout history, the name Delano has been associated with individuals from various walks of life, including explorers, military leaders, merchants, and politicians. Despite its Spanish origins, the name has gained popularity in various cultures and regions around the world, reflecting the global reach and influence of the Spanish language and culture.
People
Delano + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Delano 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
Delano: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Delano?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,074 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Delano 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 84,132 US residents.
Is Delano a common name?
We classify Delano as "Rare". It ranks above 96.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,577 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Delano most popular?
The single biggest year for Delano was 1933, when 329 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Delano is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Delano in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,622 people with the name Delano, or 1.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,922 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 Delano 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 Delano?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Delano leans strongly male. 3,543 people counted with this name were male (97.8%), compared with 78 female bearers (2.2%). 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 Delano?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Delano is Black at 54.7%. The next largest groups are White (24.7%) and Hispanic (10.1%). 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 Delano most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Delano in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.7% (1,981 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 Delano in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Delano a male name?
Yes, 98.7% of people registered as Delano 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 Delano still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Delano 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 Delano 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 Delano as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Delano, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.