Delorse
A feminine name likely derived from the French "De l'Ourse" meaning "of the bear".
Name Census estimates that about 575 living Americans carry the first name Delorse. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Delorse today is around 71 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Delorse births was 1958 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Delorse. 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
- • The typical person named Delorse is about 71 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Delorses were born before 1965.
People living today
575
~ 1 in 596,095 Americans
Peak year
1958
38 babies that year
Average age
71
years old
1984 SSA rank
#10,808
Tracked since 1918
Census
Delorse in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 433 people with the first name Delorse, which placed it at #22,843 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
#22,843
National first-name rank
People counted
433
433 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Delorse
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Delorse is White at 58.2%. The next largest groups are Black (37.2%) and Two or More Races (1.8%). 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 Delorse 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 Delorse at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.2% · 252
- Black or African American37.2% · 161
- Two or more races1.8% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 1
Popularity
Delorse: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Delorse from the 1910s through to the 1980s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 320 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
Delorse 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 Delorse during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Delorses live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee recorded the most babies named Delorse, while Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Delorse
The name Delorse is a French variation of the Latin name Deloris, which itself is derived from the name Doloris. Doloris comes from the Latin word "dolor," meaning grief or sorrow. It's believed that the name originated in the Middle Ages, possibly as a name given to children born during difficult or sorrowful times.
The earliest recorded use of the name Delorse can be traced back to the 16th century in France, where it was occasionally given to both boys and girls. However, it was predominantly used as a feminine name. Its popularity peaked in the 17th and 18th centuries among the French nobility and upper class.
One notable historical figure with the name Delorse was Delorse de Montpellier, a French noblewoman who lived in the 14th century. She was known for her philanthropic efforts and her support of the arts and literature during the Renaissance period.
Another individual of note was Delorse de Sévigné, a 17th-century French writer and epistolarian. Her letters, which offered vivid insights into the social and cultural life of her time, are considered important works of French literature.
In the 18th century, Delorse de Beaumont, a French philosopher and educator, gained recognition for her contributions to the field of education and her advocacy for women's rights.
Moving into the 19th century, Delorse Thibault was a French painter and sculptor who achieved success in the Parisian art world. Her works were exhibited at the prestigious Paris Salon and are now part of several museum collections.
Lastly, Delorse Leblanc, a 20th-century French actress and singer, gained popularity for her performances on stage and in films during the 1940s and 1950s. She was celebrated for her talent and her distinctive voice.
While the name Delorse has its roots in Latin and French history, it has since become a rare and unique name, especially in modern times. Its connection to grief and sorrow has given way to a sense of elegance and sophistication, making it a desirable choice for parents seeking a distinctive name with a rich cultural heritage.
People
Delorse + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Delorse 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
Delorse: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Delorse?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 575 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Delorse 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 596,095 US residents.
Is Delorse a common name?
We classify Delorse as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,142 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Delorse most popular?
The single biggest year for Delorse was 1958, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Delorse is about 71 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Delorse in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 433 people with the name Delorse, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,843 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 Delorse 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 Delorse?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Delorse appears almost entirely female. Of the 434 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 Delorse?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Delorse is White at 58.2%. The next largest groups are Black (37.2%) and Two or More Races (1.8%). 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 Delorse most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Delorse in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.2% (252 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 Delorse in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Delorse a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Delorse 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 Delorse still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Delorse 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 Delorse 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 common is the name Delorse?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.