Delphine
A French feminine name derived from the Greek word for dolphin or womb.
Name Census estimates that about 4,044 living Americans carry the first name Delphine. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Delphine today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Delphine births was 1958 (348 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Delphine. 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 Delphine with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.0K
~ 1 in 84,756 Americans
Peak year
1958
348 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
1933 SSA rank
#3,651
Tracked since 1880
Census
Delphine in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,339 people with the first name Delphine, which placed it at #3,747 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
#3,747
National first-name rank
People counted
5.3K
5,339 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Delphine
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Delphine is White at 48.8%. The next largest groups are Black (37.6%) and Hispanic (4.0%). 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 Delphine 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 Delphine at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.8% · 2,608
- Black or African American37.6% · 2,010
- Hispanic or Latino4.0% · 214
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.7% · 195
- Two or more races3.0% · 162
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 150
Gender
Gender distribution for Delphine
Out of the 10,440 babies given the name Delphine since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Delphine as a male name
- Ranked #3,769 in 1933
- 5 male births in 1933
- Peak: 1929 (7 births)
Delphine as a female name
- Ranked #3,651 in 2024
- 42 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1958 (348 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Delphine appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,334 people counted with this name, 99.1% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Delphine: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Delphine from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 2,087 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
Delphine 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 Delphine during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Delphines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Delphine, while South Dakota, Arkansas, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 159 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Delphine
The name Delphine originates from the French language and has its roots in ancient Greek culture. It is derived from the Greek word "delphys," which means "womb" or "dolphin." The name is closely associated with the ancient Greek city of Delphi, home to the famous oracle of Apollo and a significant religious and cultural center in antiquity.
In Greek mythology, Delphi was believed to be the navel or center of the world. The name Delphine likely gained popularity due to its connection with this sacred site and the revered oracle. It may have initially been bestowed upon children born in or near Delphi or those dedicated to the cult of Apollo.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Delphine can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Plutarch, who lived from around 46 to 120 AD. He mentions a woman named Delphine in his work "Parallel Lives," though little is known about her beyond her name.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Delphine. One famous bearer was Delphine de Girardin (1804-1855), a French novelist, and feminist who played a significant role in the literary and political circles of 19th century France.
Another prominent figure was Delphine Arnault (born 1975), a French businesswoman and the daughter of Bernard Arnault, the CEO of the luxury goods conglomerate LVMH. She currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Louis Vuitton, one of LVMH's most prestigious brands.
In the artistic realm, Delphine Seyrig (1932-1990) was a renowned French actress and filmmaker known for her work in avant-garde and experimental cinema. She starred in several influential films, including "Last Year at Marienbad" and "Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels."
Delphine Boël (born 1968) is a Belgian artist and sculptor who gained public attention due to her legal battle to be recognized as the daughter of former Belgian King Albert II, which she ultimately won in 2020.
Lastly, Delphine LaLaurie (1775-1849) was a notorious figure in New Orleans history, known for her cruelty and the torture of her enslaved servants. Her story has been the subject of numerous books, films, and TV shows, highlighting the darker aspects of American history.
People
Delphine + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Delphine 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
Delphine: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Delphine?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,044 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Delphine 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 84,756 US residents.
Is Delphine a common name?
We classify Delphine as "Rare". It ranks above 96% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,440 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Delphine most popular?
The single biggest year for Delphine was 1958, when 348 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Delphine is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Delphine in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,339 people with the name Delphine, or 1.77 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,747 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 Delphine 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 Delphine?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Delphine appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,334 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Delphine?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Delphine is White at 48.8%. The next largest groups are Black (37.6%) and Hispanic (4.0%). 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 Delphine most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Delphine in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.8% (2,608 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 Delphine in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Delphine a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Delphine 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 Delphine still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Delphine 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 Delphine 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 are named Delphine?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Delphine, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.