Head to head · Girls' names
Daleyza vs Della
#538 vs #563 in 2025
Daleyza is a whisker ahead (#538 vs #563 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Daleyza is stepping back from its peak, Della is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Della 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, Della leads 4 measures of 6; Daleyza 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: Daleyza —, Della #68 — Della higher
- 1890s: Daleyza —, Della #81 — Della higher
- 1900s: Daleyza —, Della #107 — Della higher
- 1910s: Daleyza —, Della #159 — Della higher
- 1920s: Daleyza —, Della #197 — Della higher
- 1930s: Daleyza —, Della #218 — Della higher
- 1940s: Daleyza —, Della #283 — Della higher
- 1950s: Daleyza —, Della #353 — Della higher
- 1960s: Daleyza —, Della #464 — Della higher
- 1970s: Daleyza —, Della #837 — Della higher
- 1980s: Daleyza —, Della #1554 — Della higher
- 1990s: Daleyza —, Della #2538 — Della higher
- 2000s: Daleyza —, Della #2496 — Della higher
- 2010s: Daleyza #736, Della #1224 — Daleyza higher
- 2020s: Daleyza #442, Della #679 — Daleyza higher
Della stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Daleyza has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Daleyza | Della |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #68 |
| 1890s | — | #81 |
| 1900s | — | #107 |
| 1910s | — | #159 |
| 1920s | — | #197 |
| 1930s | — | #218 |
| 1940s | — | #283 |
| 1950s | — | #353 |
| 1960s | — | #464 |
| 1970s | — | #837 |
| 1980s | — | #1554 |
| 1990s | — | #2538 |
| 2000s | — | #2496 |
| 2010s | #736 | #1224 |
| 2020s | #442 | #679 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Daleyza
Not established
No established etymology. It is sometimes linked to Dalia or to Arabic names beginning Dal-, but nothing supports either connection. What is documented is not a meaning but a path: the name appears in American records only in the last decade or so, and it is strongest in California, Texas and Arizona.
How it traveled
Daleyza reached the wider United States through one family. Daleyza Hernández Barrera, daughter of the Mexican-American regional singer Larry Hernández, appeared with her parents on the reality series Larrymania in the early 2010s, and within a short time the name was turning up in national birth records for the first time.
Della
Depends on the longer name behind it: 'noble' by way of Adela and Adelaide, or from Delia, a title of the goddess Artemis born on Delos
Della is a short form rather than a name coined whole, so its meaning is inherited. Through Adela and Adelaide it goes back to the Germanic element adal, 'noble.' Through Delia — also shortened to Della in English use — it reaches Greek Delia, 'of Delos.' Cordelia and Fidelia have also handed the name down. All these roads are real; none cancels the others.
Adal (Germanic element, 'noble') → Adela → Adelaide → Della
How it traveled
Della grew out of the nineteenth-century English habit of turning long formal names into warm short ones and then registering the short one on the birth certificate. Adela, Adelaide, Adeline, Delia and Cordelia all shed their front halves in family speech, and Della was the common landing place.
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
Daleyza
dah-LAY-suh
In Spanish the z is pronounced as an s, giving dah-LAY-suh. English speakers frequently say dah-LAY-zuh, and both are heard within the same families. The stress stays on the middle syllable in either version.
- Daley — The most straightforward shortening, taken from the first two syllables; informal, family and playground use rather than anything official.
- Leyza — Drops the opening syllable and keeps the stressed one; used affectionately within families.
- Dally — An anglicized short form heard in English-speaking settings; casual only.
- Dai — A very short informal clip, sometimes written Day; does not stand alone as a given name in US records.
Della
DEL-uh
Stress on the first syllable. One pronunciation everywhere in English, and the spelling gives it away on sight — rare for a name this old.
- Dell — The oldest short form, used informally; also stands alone as a given name and as a surname.
- Dellie — Affectionate childhood form, spelled Delly as often as Dellie.
- Dee — Informal, shared with many D- names; used for adults as much as children.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Daleyza if you want…
- a name most people already know#538 in 2025, 562 babies that year
- a name past its most crowded yearsDaleyza is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itDaleyza runs 3 syllables, Della 2
- a newer arrivalDaleyza entered the US charts in 2012
Choose Della if you want…
- a name fewer children share#563 in 2025 — della will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name on the way upup 352 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesDella is 2 syllables to Daleyza's 3
- a long American recordDella was already in use when US records began in 1880
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
Daleyza
Strengths
- Stress and syllable count are unambiguous: nearly everyone lands on dah-LAY-suh or dah-LAY-zuh, with no competing rival pronunciation.
- Works in Spanish and English mouths alike, with only the z shifting between them — useful in a bilingual household.
- Several natural short forms already in family use, including Daley and Leyza, so a child has options without inventing one.
To consider
- The spelling will need repeating. Daleysa, Daliza and Daleiza are all plausible guesses from hearing it, and forms and rosters will get it wrong often enough to notice.
- It is closely tied to one moment and one family's public visibility, so it reads unmistakably as a name of the 2010s. That can feel warm or dated depending on the decade you are standing in.
- Outside California, Texas, Arizona and similar regions, some people will meet the name for the first time in your daughter. That mostly means introductions rather than trouble.
Della
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds, with one settled pronunciation, so it rarely needs repeating or correcting.
- Unbroken use in the United States since the nineteenth century, so it reads as familiar rather than invented.
- Sits beside a whole family of longer names — Adela, Adelaide, Adeline, Cordelia, Delia — if you want a formal version on paper.
To consider
- It is a short form by origin, so it comes with no built-in long version. Some parents record Adelaide or Cordelia and use Della daily; others use Della on its own, as families have done for well over a century.
- It is still strongly represented among the oldest living generations, which is exactly why it sounds fresh again now — but expect some people to hear it as their grandmother's era rather than a baby's.
- In Italian, della is an everyday grammatical word meaning 'of the,' which Italian speakers will notice, usually with amusement rather than objection.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
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 Daleyza and Della in full.
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Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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Put both to the vote.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Names that didn't exist a generation ago
- Names with a Z in them
- Vintage names making a comeback
- Grandmother-chic: 1920s names ready to return
- all guides
Where Daleyza and Della each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Daleyza or Della — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Daleyza or Della?
- Daleyza, in 2025: Daleyza ranked #538 with 562 babies; Della ranked #563 with 533 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Daleyza or Della?
- Della. Over the last five years Daleyza moved down 161 places; Della moved up 352 places.
- Which is the older name, Daleyza or Della?
- Daleyza entered the US charts in 2012; Della was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Della is the older name.
- How many people are named Daleyza and Della?
- About 12,500 people named Daleyza are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 24,000 people named Della are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Daleyzas or Dellas in the classroom?
- Daleyza will almost certainly be the only one in school. Della will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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