Deloy
A male name likely derived from the French surname Deloge.
Name Census estimates that about 123 living Americans carry the first name Deloy. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Deloy today is around 78 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Deloy births was 1930 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Deloy. 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 Deloy is about 78 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Deloys were born before 1958.
People living today
123
~ 1 in 2,786,621 Americans
Peak year
1930
21 babies that year
Average age
78
years old
1975 SSA rank
#4,947
Tracked since 1916
Census
Deloy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 220 people with the first name Deloy, which placed it at #36,203 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
#36,203
National first-name rank
People counted
220
220 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
92.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Deloy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deloy is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.1%) and Black (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 Deloy 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 Deloy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.3% · 203
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 9
- Black or African American1.8% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 3
- Two or more races0.5% · 1
Popularity
Deloy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Deloy from the 1910s through to the 1970s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 146 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
Deloy 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 Deloy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Deloys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Deloy
The given name Deloy finds its roots in the ancient Gaulish language, which was spoken by the Celtic tribes that inhabited present-day France, Belgium, and parts of Switzerland during the Iron Age. The name is believed to have originated from the Gaulish word "delu," meaning "meadow" or "field," combined with the suffix "-oy," which denoted a place or location.
This linguistic connection suggests that the name Deloy was initially a place name, potentially referring to a settlement or village situated in a meadow or a clearing within a forested area. As the name transitioned into a personal name, it likely carried connotations of a person's association with or origins from such a place.
While there are no known ancient texts or religious scriptures that explicitly mention the name Deloy, historical records from the Middle Ages provide some of the earliest documented instances of its use. One of the earliest recorded individuals bearing this name was Deloy de Villiers, a French nobleman who lived in the 12th century and was a prominent figure in the court of King Philip II of France.
During the Renaissance period, the name Deloy gained further recognition with the birth of Deloy de Montfort (1490-1562), a French diplomat and courtier who served under King Francis I. His travels and diplomatic missions across Europe helped to spread the name beyond the borders of France.
In the 17th century, Deloy de Lassus (1605-1678) was a renowned French composer and musician who contributed significantly to the development of the French baroque musical style. His works, which were performed at the court of King Louis XIV, brought the name Deloy to the attention of the cultural elite of the time.
Another notable figure was Deloy de La Roche (1720-1795), a French military officer and explorer who served in the French colonial forces in North America. He is known for his explorations of the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes region, where he established several outposts and trading posts.
In more recent times, the name Deloy gained recognition through the accomplishments of Deloy Oberlin (1819-1895), a French-American educator and philanthropist. He founded the Oberlin College in Ohio, which became one of the first institutions of higher education in the United States to admit students regardless of race or gender.
While the name Deloy has its roots in the ancient Gaulish language and was primarily used in France during its early history, it has since spread to other parts of the world, though it remains relatively uncommon. The name's connection to the natural world and its historical associations with notable figures from various fields have contributed to its enduring legacy and cultural significance.
People
Deloy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Deloy 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
Deloy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Deloy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 123 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Deloy 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 2,786,621 US residents.
Is Deloy a common name?
We classify Deloy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 398 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Deloy most popular?
The single biggest year for Deloy was 1930, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Deloy is about 78 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Deloy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 220 people with the name Deloy, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,203 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 Deloy 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 Deloy?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Deloy leans strongly male. 194 people counted with this name were male (88.2%), compared with 26 female bearers (11.8%). 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 Deloy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deloy is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.1%) and Black (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 Deloy most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Deloy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.3% (203 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 Deloy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Deloy a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Deloy 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 Deloy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Deloy 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 Deloy 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 share the name Deloy?
Want to know how many Americans are named Deloy? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.