Delilah
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The story
Delilah comes from a Hebrew word glossed as delicate, weak, or languishing, not seductive. Seduction belongs to later readings of the biblical character, not to the literal root. In Judges, Delilah betrays Samson to the Philistines after learning that his uncut hair marks the source of his strength. That story gave the name a dangerous reputation, yet English Puritans still used it in the seventeenth century, and it never disappeared entirely. The US curve begins moving again in the 1990s, rises through the 2000s and 2010s, and reaches its highest point in the 2020s. Modern parents are clearly not treating the character as a permanent ban. Delilah pairs a lush sound with a difficult old story, but its meaning card should keep those two things separate: etymology describes the word; culture supplies the femme-fatale association.
Delilah in song
Delilah
Tom Jones (1968)
A murder ballad hiding inside a waltz, sung with such gusto by Tom Jones that Welsh rugby crowds adopted it as an anthem.
Hey There Delilah
Plain White T's (2006)
A long-distance love letter written for a real runner named Delilah DiCrescenzo, who was not actually dating him.
How popular is Delilah around the world?
In the United States, 23,499 babies were named Delilah between 2020 and 2025. In England and Wales, 1,180 girls named Delilah were born in 2025, the 32nd most common name among girls that year.
Delilah is on the official records of the United States, England and Wales, South Australia, New Zealand, New South Wales, Scotland, Canada, Ireland, Austria, Mexico City, Argentina and Spain.
United States
1 in 930
In the United States, 23,499 babies were named Delilah between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Delilah peaked in the 2020s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
England and Wales
1 in 500
In England and Wales, 1,180 girls named Delilah were born in 2025, the 32nd most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
South Australia
1 in 9202017
In South Australia, 20 girls were registered as Delilah in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
New Zealand
1 in 1,100
In New Zealand, 51 girls named Delilah were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
New South Wales
#54 · 2025
In New South Wales, 121 girls named Delilah were registered in 2025, ranked 54th in that year’s top 100 for girls.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
Scotland
1 in 1,300
In Scotland, 34 girls named Delilah were registered in 2024, the 131st most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Canada
1 in 1,800
In Canada, 198 girls named Delilah were born in 2024, the 135th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Ireland
1 in 1,900
In Ireland, 29 girls named Delilah were born in 2025, the 160th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Austria
1 in 76,000
In Austria, 1 girl named Delilah was born in 2025, ranked 1,875th among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Mexico City City
1 in 120,000
In Mexico City, there was 1 registration of Delilah in 2022.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Argentina
1 in 330,000
In Argentina, 2 newborns were given the name Delilah in 2024.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Spain
1 in 2.1M
In Spain, 21 residents are named Delilah, ranked 29,996th among women, with a mean age of 26.8 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Puerto Rico
last on record 2020
Delilah is not on the 2025 record for Puerto Rico, which withholds births under 5, and 6 babies have carried the name there since 1998.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)
Not on the record in Poland: that registry withholds small counts, so rare uses may sit below its floor.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Delilah
Most people given the name Delilah in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like Delilah · Names that go with Delilah · Nicknames for Delilah · Middle names for Delilah
The Delilah deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Delilah truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Delilah fits with your family’s names and surname.
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