Delilah: Meaning of Baby Name Delilah

About the Name Delilah

Delilah descends from the Hebrew Delilah, traditionally derived from dalal meaning "to weaken" or "to amorously dally" — though etymologists also propose connections to a separate Hebrew root meaning "of the night" (related to laylah). The biblical Delilah is the Philistine woman of the Book of Judges who, bribed by the Philistine lords, repeatedly cajoles the secret of Samson's strength from him until she finally cuts his hair while he sleeps, leading to his capture and blinding.

The biblical Delilah is one of the more morally complex female figures in the Hebrew Bible, often interpreted as a betrayer but sometimes read as a survivor making a pragmatic choice. The name was rare in pre-modern English-language naming partly because of the negative association. Notable bearers include American singer Delilah (born Delilah Rene Luke, 1959, the most-listened-to American radio host of the late 20th century, with a syndicated soft-rock evening program reaching millions of listeners weekly).

The contemporary American Delilah surge — partly through the popular Plain White T's 2006 song "Hey There Delilah" — took the name from outside the US top 500 in 2000 to the top 50 girls' rank by 2020. The name's appeal sits in its layered register — biblical depth (even with the morally ambiguous narrative), three flowing syllables, soft consonants, and a tonal warmth that contrasts with shorter modern names. The name reads as both vintage and surprisingly fresh. Common nicknames Lila, Lilah (now itself a popular standalone name), Della, and the rare Dell each carry distinct registers; international forms include Dalila (Spanish/Italian), Dalila (French), and the original Hebrew Delilah.

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.

Quick Facts About Delilah

1,531

Hebrew baby names in our dictionary

836

Hebrew female names

257

7-letter D-names in our dictionary

491

D-female names total

2000–2025

years of US SSA records (26 total)

56,089

total US births named Delilah (all years)

US Popularity History (2000–2025)

📈 Rising: Delilah climbed 19 places in the US girls ranking over the last 5 years (#70 in 2020 → #51 in 2025).

Annual US births named Delilah by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2024 with 4,240 girls named Delilah (girl rank #50 that year).

Where it stands today: in 2025, ranked #51 for girls (4,137 US births). That's 1 places below its 2024 peak.

Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.

Where in the US Is Delilah Most Popular?

Average girl-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's girls-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Delilah the strongest states are Nevada, California, New Mexico.

Strongest girls-name states

#	State	Avg rank	Births
1	Nevada	#39	420
2	California	#42	5,668
3	New Mexico	#51	212
4	Arizona	#51	871
5	Texas	#57	3,878
6	Indiana	#59	835
7	West Virginia	#62	225
8	Oregon	#68	394
9	Illinois	#69	1,216
10	Wyoming	#69	43

Weakest girls-name states

#	State	Avg rank	Births
1	New Jersey	#195	379
2	Massachusetts	#157	351
3	Hawaii	#148	51
4	New Hampshire	#141	75
5	North Dakota	#139	46
6	Delaware	#138	43
7	South Dakota	#138	74
8	Nebraska	#137	163
9	Virginia	#136	535
10	New York	#134	1,121

Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Delilah in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.

Variant Forms

Name	Meaning	Gender	Origin
Dalila	Swahili Name Meaning "Gentle."	Female	African
Lila	Feminine Of Lyle From The Island. Variant Of Delilah.	Female	English
Lilah	Feminine Of Lyle From The Island. Variant Of Delilah.	Female	English

Looking for names like Delilah?

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Compare Delilah to Other Popular Names

Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Delilah against today's most popular girls-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).

Delilah vs Olivia 210,124 births since 2014

Delilah vs Emma 202,477 births since 2014

Delilah vs Sophia 169,709 births since 2014

Delilah vs Isabella 158,431 births since 2014

Delilah vs Ava 157,356 births since 2014

Delilah vs Charlotte 151,872 births since 2014

Delilah vs Mia 149,779 births since 2014

Delilah vs Amelia 142,728 births since 2014

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