Della
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Meaning
diminutive of Adela or Adelaide (adal, "noble"); famously borne by Della Reese
The story
Della is a diminutive of Adela or Adelaide, from the Germanic adal, "noble", and its famous bearer, Behind the Name notes, was the actress and singer Della Reese. The American record runs a complete century-cycle: about 6,400 girls in the 1890s, about 10,400 in the 1920s, a long fade to about 510 in the 1990s, then the turn, about 720 in the 2000s, about 2,200 in the 2010s, and about 2,600 so far this decade, already past the whole 2010s total. The formal names behind it, Adela and Adelaide, keep their own records; this line is the diminutive's own, recorded under its own spelling, noble at the root, familiar in the ear, and climbing the same staircase it came down a century ago.
How popular is Della around the world?
In the United States, 2,644 babies were named Della between 2020 and 2025. In South Australia, 6 girls were registered as Della in 2017.
Della is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, Canada, Scotland and England and Wales.
United States
1 in 8,200
In the United States, 2,644 babies were named Della between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Della peaked in the 1890s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure. In US birth records Della has stayed between 512 and 6,038 births in every decade since the 1950s: a name everyone knows and few children get.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 3,1002017
In South Australia, 6 girls were registered as Della in 2017.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
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
Canada
1 in 9,600
In Canada, 38 girls named Della were born in 2024, the 772nd 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)
Scotland
1 in 15,000
In Scotland, 3 girls named Della were registered in 2024, the 790th most common name among girls that year.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
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
England and Wales
1 in 19,000
In England and Wales, 31 girls named Della were born in 2025, ranked 1,079th 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
Austria
last on record 2024
Della is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 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)
Ireland
last on record 2024
Della is not on the 2025 record for Ireland, where names under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
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
Montevideo City
last on record 1945
Della is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, New Zealand and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. 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.
Keep exploring
The Della deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Della 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 Della fits with your family’s names and surname.
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