Find out how popular the last name Delight is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Delight.

Delight, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Delight surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Delight in America

Delight is the 154907th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Delight surname appeared 105 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Delight.

The history of the last name Delight

The surname Delight is derived from the French word "delite", which means pleasure or delight. It is believed to have originated in Normandy, France, during the 12th century. The name was likely given as a descriptive surname to someone who brought joy or happiness to others.

During the medieval period, the name Delight appeared in various records and manuscripts across northern France. One notable reference is found in the Chronicles of Froissart, a 14th-century historian, who mentioned a knight named Raoul Delight fighting in the Battle of Poitiers in 1356.

The earliest recorded instance of the surname Delight dates back to 1198 in the Pipe Rolls of Oxfordshire, England, where a man named Richard Delight is listed as a landowner. This suggests that the name had already been introduced to England by Norman settlers following the Norman Conquest in 1066.

In the 13th century, the name Delight was also recorded in various forms, such as "de Lyte" and "Delyte", in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire and the Feet of Fines for Essex.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Delight was Sir John Delight, a English knight who fought alongside King Edward III in the Battle of Crécy during the Hundred Years' War in 1346.

Another notable figure was William Delight (1490-1558), an English cleric and theologian who served as the Dean of Windsor and the Bishop of Ely during the reign of Queen Mary I.

In the 16th century, the name was also found in Scotland, with records mentioning a John Delight, a merchant from Edinburgh, who was born around 1520.

During the 17th century, the surname Delight was recorded in various parts of England, including London, where a Thomas Delight (1612-1679) was a prominent merchant and alderman.

Another significant figure was Sir John Delight (1640-1718), an English politician and landowner who served as a Member of Parliament for Berkshire in the late 17th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Delight

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Delight.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Delight was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Delight was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Delight, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!