Delylah
A feminine name of uncertain origins, possibly from Hebrew or Arabic.
Name Census estimates that about 1,573 living Americans carry the first name Delylah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Delylah today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Delylah births was 2020 (97 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Delylah. 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 Delylah with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Delylah is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 11 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.6K
~ 1 in 217,898 Americans
Peak year
2020
97 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,577
Tracked since 1999
Census
Delylah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 891 people with the first name Delylah, which placed it at #13,521 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
#13,521
National first-name rank
People counted
891
891 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
48.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Delylah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Delylah is Hispanic at 48.5%. The next largest groups are White (33.9%) and Black (8.0%). 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 Delylah 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 Delylah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino48.5% · 432
- White33.9% · 302
- Black or African American8.0% · 71
- Two or more races6.5% · 58
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 9
Popularity
Delylah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Delylah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 826 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Delylah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Delylah 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 Delylah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Delylahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Delylah, while Utah, Pennsylvania, Nevada recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 48 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Delylah
The name Delylah is a variant spelling of the Hebrew name Delilah, which means "delicate" or "languishing". It originated from the biblical character Delilah, who is mentioned in the Book of Judges in the Old Testament. The story of Delilah and Samson is a well-known tale from the Bible, where Delilah betrays Samson, leading to his downfall.
The name Delilah has its roots in the Semitic languages and can be traced back to ancient times. It is believed that the name may have been derived from the Hebrew word "dalal," which means "to languish" or "to be weak." The name was popular among the ancient Israelites and was likely used as a symbolic name for those who were perceived as delicate or gentle in nature.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Delylah can be found in the Book of Judges, which is dated to around the 7th century BCE. In the biblical story, Delilah is a Philistine woman who seduces Samson, a powerful judge and warrior, to learn the secret of his strength and ultimately betrays him to the Philistines.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Delylah or variations of the name. One such individual was Delilah Beasley (1867-1934), a historian and author from Ohio, United States, who wrote extensively on the history of the state and its people.
Another prominent figure was Delilah Leontium (c. 188-235 CE), a Greek philosopher and mathematician from Alexandria, Egypt. She is known for her contributions to the field of mathematics and for her role in the development of the Neoplatonic school of philosophy.
In the realm of music, Delylah Stevenson (1924-2001) was an American singer and actress who performed in Broadway musicals and television shows in the mid-20th century.
Additionally, Delylah Michaels (born 1975) is a contemporary American radio personality and author, known for hosting the nationally syndicated radio program "Delilah After Dark."
Delylah Calkins (1901-1989) was an American painter and printmaker, renowned for her contributions to the American Modernist movement and her vibrant depictions of everyday life.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Delylah or its variations, each leaving their mark in their respective fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human culture and accomplishments.
People
Delylah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Delylah 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
Delylah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Delylah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,573 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Delylah 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 217,898 US residents.
Is Delylah a common name?
We classify Delylah as "Rare". It ranks above 92.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,586 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Delylah most popular?
The single biggest year for Delylah was 2020, when 97 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Delylah is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Delylah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 891 people with the name Delylah, or 0.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,521 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 Delylah 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 Delylah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Delylah appears almost entirely female. Of the 888 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Delylah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Delylah is Hispanic at 48.5%. The next largest groups are White (33.9%) and Black (8.0%). 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 Delylah most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Delylah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.5% (432 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 Delylah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Delylah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Delylah 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 Delylah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Delylah 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 Delylah 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 Delylah?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Delylah at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.