Delos
An ancient Greek name referring to the island birthplace of the god Apollo.
Name Census estimates that about 310 living Americans carry the first name Delos. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Delos today is around 73 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Delos births was 1923 (49 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Delos. 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 Delos is about 73 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Delos' were born before 1963.
People living today
310
~ 1 in 1,105,659 Americans
Peak year
1923
49 babies that year
Average age
73
years old
2020 SSA rank
#12,486
Tracked since 1880
Popularity
Delos: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Delos from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 365 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Delos 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 Delos during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Delos' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Michigan, New York, Wisconsin recorded the most babies named Delos, while Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Delos
The name Delos originates from Ancient Greek and has its roots in the island of the same name, located in the Cyclades archipelago of the Aegean Sea. This island played a significant role in Greek mythology as the birthplace of the twin deities Apollo and Artemis. The name Delos itself is derived from the Greek word "delos," meaning "visible" or "brilliant," which could allude to the island's prominence or radiance.
In Greek mythology, Delos was initially a floating island, until Zeus anchored it to the bottom of the sea, allowing Leto, the mother of Apollo and Artemis, to find refuge there and give birth to the twin gods. This mythological connection has made the name Delos synonymous with the sacred origins of these deities in ancient Greek culture.
The earliest recorded use of the name Delos can be traced back to ancient Greek literature, where it appears in works such as the Homeric Hymns and the writings of Callimachus, a renowned poet and scholar from the 3rd century BCE. These texts often reference the island's mythological significance and its association with Apollo and Artemis.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Delos. One of the earliest recorded figures was Delos of Patara, a 5th century BCE Greek philosopher and mathematician who made significant contributions to the study of geometry. Another prominent figure was Delos of Ephesus, a Greek sculptor active in the 2nd century BCE, known for his works depicting mythological subjects.
In the realm of literature, Delos was the name of a character in the ancient Greek novel "An Ephesian Tale" by Xenophon of Ephesus, written around the 2nd or 3rd century CE. This character played a pivotal role in the narrative, adding to the cultural significance of the name.
Moving forward in history, Delos was also the name of a 6th-century Byzantine monk and theologian who authored several religious works and was known for his ascetic lifestyle. Additionally, in the 12th century, there was a French nobleman named Delos de Caussens, who participated in the Crusades and was mentioned in historical accounts of the time.
More recently, the name Delos was borne by Delos Rogest (1800-1888), an American politician and lawyer who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio in the mid-19th century.
People
Delos + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Delos 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
Delos: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Delos?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 310 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Delos 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 1,105,659 US residents.
Is Delos a common name?
We classify Delos as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,323 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Delos most popular?
The single biggest year for Delos was 1923, when 49 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Delos is about 73 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Delos a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Delos 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.