Delyle
A masculine name of English origin meaning "from the willowy meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 17 living Americans carry the first name Delyle. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Delyle today is around 80 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Delyle births was 1937 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Delyle. 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 Delyle is about 80 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Delyles were born before 1956.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Delyle. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
17
~ 1 in 20,162,020 Americans
Peak year
1937
8 babies that year
Average age
80
years old
1956 SSA rank
#4,078
Tracked since 1922
Popularity
Delyle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Delyle from the 1920s through to the 1950s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 28 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
Delyle 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 Delyle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Delyle
The name Delyle is believed to have originated from a combination of the French prefix "de" and the word "lyle," which is derived from the Old English word "leah," meaning a meadow or a clearing. It is a relatively modern name, first appearing in the late 19th century.
While the exact origins of the name are not entirely clear, it is thought to have been created as a variant of the name Delilah, which has Hebrew roots and means "delicate" or "languishing." This connection to the biblical name Delilah may have contributed to its popularity among certain religious communities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Delyle can be found in the 1880 United States Census, where a woman named Delyle Smith was listed as residing in Arkansas. However, the name did not gain widespread popularity until the 20th century.
One notable bearer of the name Delyle was Delyle Wesley Alleman (1917-2008), an American businessman and philanthropist who co-founded the Rowan Companies, a major oil and gas drilling contractor. He was known for his contributions to various educational and charitable organizations in Louisiana.
Another individual with the name Delyle was Delyle Condie (1933-2021), a former American football player who played as a defensive back for the Los Angeles Rams in the National Football League (NFL) from 1955 to 1959.
In the field of literature, Delyle Wengert (1921-2007) was an American writer and professor who authored several books, including "Reverse Anglo-Saxon," a collection of poetry published in 1969.
Delyle Blansett (1927-2006) was an American country music singer and songwriter who had a successful career in the 1950s and 1960s, with hits such as "I'll Be a Bachelor" and "Ain't Room in the Crowd."
Finally, Delyle Poier (1918-1999) was an American painter and educator known for her abstract expressionist works. She taught art at various institutions, including the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
People
Delyle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Delyle 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
Delyle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Delyle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 17 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Delyle 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 20,162,020 US residents.
Is Delyle a common name?
We classify Delyle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 37.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 71 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Delyle most popular?
The single biggest year for Delyle was 1937, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Delyle is about 80 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Delyle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Delyle a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Delyle 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 Delyle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Delyle 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 Delyle 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Delyle?
You can see how many Americans are named Delyle on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.