Head to head · Girls' names
Daisy vs Delilah
#75 vs #51 in 2025
Delilah is a whisker ahead (#51 vs #75 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Delilah is climbing the charts fast, Daisy is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Daisy has the edge.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Daisy leads 3 measures of 6; Delilah leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Daisy #59, Delilah #571 — Daisy higher
- 1890s: Daisy #83, Delilah #660 — Daisy higher
- 1900s: Daisy #90, Delilah #850 — Daisy higher
- 1910s: Daisy #129, Delilah #846 — Daisy higher
- 1920s: Daisy #166, Delilah #961 — Daisy higher
- 1930s: Daisy #196, Delilah #958 — Daisy higher
- 1940s: Daisy #269, Delilah #986 — Daisy higher
- 1950s: Daisy #387, Delilah #754 — Daisy higher
- 1960s: Daisy #519, Delilah #1303 — Daisy higher
- 1970s: Daisy #563, Delilah #913 — Daisy higher
- 1980s: Daisy #287, Delilah #885 — Daisy higher
- 1990s: Daisy #161, Delilah #1091 — Daisy higher
- 2000s: Daisy #148, Delilah #506 — Daisy higher
- 2010s: Daisy #175, Delilah #129 — Delilah higher
- 2020s: Daisy #110, Delilah #57 — Delilah higher
Daisy stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Delilah has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Daisy | Delilah |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #59 | #571 |
| 1890s | #83 | #660 |
| 1900s | #90 | #850 |
| 1910s | #129 | #846 |
| 1920s | #166 | #961 |
| 1930s | #196 | #958 |
| 1940s | #269 | #986 |
| 1950s | #387 | #754 |
| 1960s | #519 | #1303 |
| 1970s | #563 | #913 |
| 1980s | #287 | #885 |
| 1990s | #161 | #1091 |
| 2000s | #148 | #506 |
| 2010s | #175 | #129 |
| 2020s | #110 | #57 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Daisy
- England & Wales#18
- Scotland#26
Delilah
- England & Wales#33
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Daisy
The daisy flower
From the flower's name, Old English dæges eage, 'day's eye'. Daisy was also long used as a nickname for Margaret.
dæges eage → daisy → Daisy
How it traveled
Daisy spread in the nineteenth century both as a flower name and as a nickname for Margaret. Juliette Gordon Low of Savannah, known to her family all her life as Daisy, founded the Girl Scouts in 1912, and the youngest Girl Scouts are still called Daisies after her.
Delilah
Most often read as "delicate" or "she who weakened"
The usual reading traces the name to the Hebrew root d-l-l, "to be low, to hang down, to be weak" — hence "delicate," or, read against the Samson story, "she who weakened him." A second serious reading connects it instead to Hebrew laylah, "night." Neither has pushed the other out.
Delilah (Hebrew) → Dalida (Greek, Septuagint) → Dalila (Latin, Vulgate) → Delilah (English)
How it traveled
The name is Hebrew and reaches English through scripture: Judges 16 in the Hebrew Bible, then Dalida in the Greek of the Septuagint and Dalila in the Latin Vulgate. English Bibles settled on Delilah, and that spelling is the one that stuck in the language, even while the story kept most parents from using it.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Daisy
DAY-zee
Two syllables, stress on the first.
- Dais — Informal clipping.
Delilah
dih-LY-lah
Three syllables with the stress on the middle one, which carries the long i of "my." English speakers say it correctly on sight; the Spanish, French and Italian Dalila puts the stress in the same place but uses an ee sound: dah-LEE-lah.
- Lila — The most-used short form, and a standalone given name in its own right in the US.
- Lilah — Same short form with the spelling pulled from the full name; also used on its own.
- Dee — Informal, family-and-friends use; an old workhorse for any D name.
- Della — Informal, and an established given name of its own from an older generation.
- Also Lily, Didi.
Who has carried each name
Daisy
Daisy Ridley (b. 1992) — Star Wars' Rey
Daisy Edgar-Jones (b. 1998) — Star of Normal People and Where the Crawdads Sing
Delilah
No documented entry for Delilah yet.
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Daisy if you want…
- a name fewer children share#75 in 2025 — daisy will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name on the way upup 68 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesDaisy is 2 syllables to Delilah's 3
- a name that stays wholeone recorded short form for Daisy (Dais)
Choose Delilah if you want…
- a name most people already know#51 in 2025, 4,137 babies that year
- a name with more sound in itDelilah runs 3 syllables, Daisy 2
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Lila, Lilah and Dee
- a name that feels very nowDelilah is climbing the charts fast
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Daisy
Strengths
- Instantly recognized and spelled the way everyone expects.
- A long American history with a strong modern return.
- A cheerful flower name with a real founder's story behind it.
To consider
- It is common again, so a Daisy may share her name with a classmate.
- Some people still hear it as a nickname and ask for the full name.
- For a boy it would be very unusual.
Delilah
Strengths
- A spelling nobody has to be taught — it is the form printed in English Bibles for four centuries.
- Several short forms already in circulation: Lila, Lilah, Dee, Della.
- Travels well: recognized across Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese as Dalila, and in use in England and Wales too.
To consider
- The Samson story is one of betrayal, and some people — particularly churchgoing relatives — will mention it. Others know only the songs, or nothing at all.
- "Hey There Delilah" has been sung at every Delilah of the last two decades, and probably will be for a while yet.
- Dalila and Delila are both real spellings elsewhere, so expect the occasional correction, and Lila as a nickname doubles as a very common name on its own.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Daisy
30%chance Daisy feels dated by 2040
Daisy is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
Delilah
52%chance Delilah feels dated by 2040
Delilah is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Daisy and Delilah in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Daisy and Delilah — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Daisy or Delilah — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Daisy or Delilah?
- Delilah, in 2025: Delilah ranked #51 with 4,137 babies; Daisy ranked #75 with 3,206 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Daisy or Delilah?
- Daisy. Over the last five years Daisy moved up 68 places; Delilah moved up 19 places.
- Which is the older name, Daisy or Delilah?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Daisy and Delilah?
- About 101,000 people named Daisy are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 63,500 people named Delilah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Daisys or Delilahs in the classroom?
- Daisy will almost certainly be the only one in school. Delilah will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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