Head to head · Girls' names
Danielle vs Della
#549 vs #563 in 2025
Danielle is a whisker ahead (#549 vs #563 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Danielle 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, Danielle leads 4 measures of 6; Della 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: Danielle —, Della #68 — Della higher
- 1890s: Danielle —, Della #81 — Della higher
- 1900s: Danielle —, Della #107 — Della higher
- 1910s: Danielle —, Della #159 — Della higher
- 1920s: Danielle —, Della #197 — Della higher
- 1930s: Danielle #1494, Della #218 — Della higher
- 1940s: Danielle #888, Della #283 — Della higher
- 1950s: Danielle #730, Della #353 — Della higher
- 1960s: Danielle #285, Della #464 — Danielle higher
- 1970s: Danielle #55, Della #837 — Danielle higher
- 1980s: Danielle #22, Della #1554 — Danielle higher
- 1990s: Danielle #26, Della #2538 — Danielle higher
- 2000s: Danielle #100, Della #2496 — Danielle higher
- 2010s: Danielle #294, Della #1224 — Danielle higher
- 2020s: Danielle #488, Della #679 — Danielle higher
Della stood higher in 8 of 15 decades; Danielle has held the lead since the 1960s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Danielle | Della |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #68 |
| 1890s | — | #81 |
| 1900s | — | #107 |
| 1910s | — | #159 |
| 1920s | — | #197 |
| 1930s | #1494 | #218 |
| 1940s | #888 | #283 |
| 1950s | #730 | #353 |
| 1960s | #285 | #464 |
| 1970s | #55 | #837 |
| 1980s | #22 | #1554 |
| 1990s | #26 | #2538 |
| 2000s | #100 | #2496 |
| 2010s | #294 | #1224 |
| 2020s | #488 | #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
Danielle
God is my judge
Hebrew, and the construction is a complete sentence rather than a description. The French feminine ending adds a marker and no sense of its own.
Daniel → Danielle
How it traveled
The book ends with a sentence that had not been said before. Its last chapter promises that many of those who sleep in the dust will awake — some to everlasting life and some to shame — and it is the earliest unambiguous statement of a general resurrection anywhere in the Hebrew scriptures.
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
Danielle
dan-YELL
Two syllables with the weight at the back, as the French ending requires. American speakers frequently give it three, saying dan-ee-ELL.
- Dani — The front of the name; completely unisex and entirely current.
- Elle — The ending used alone; a standing name in its own right.
- Dee — The initial sound; short, plain and shared very widely.
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.
One short form, two names
- Danielle and Della both shorten to Dee.
Short forms as recorded on each name’s own page. This is here so it is a decision rather than a discovery.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Danielle if you want…
- a name most people already know#549 in 2025, 550 babies that year
- a name past its most crowded yearsDanielle is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itDanielle runs 3 syllables, Della 2
- a newer arrivalDanielle entered the US charts in 1937
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 Danielle'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
Danielle
Strengths
- It is a genuine French form rather than an English invention.
- Dani and Elle sit inside it as short forms with different registers.
- The meaning is clear and easy to explain.
To consider
- Its peak was very large and very recent, which dates the name to a decade.
- Daniela and Danielle are both standard and get substituted.
- The record holds a few boys as well, and the boy is much the smaller side.
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.
How each is likely to age
Danielle
82%chance Danielle feels dated by 2040
Danielle is coming down from a big peak (#14 in 1987). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Della
30%chance Della feels dated by 2040
Della 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.
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 Danielle and Della 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
Still torn between Danielle and Della?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Names of the '80s and '90s, currently resting
- Classics hiding in plain sight
- Millennial names (born 1981–1996)
- Eight-letter names with presence
- all guides
Where Danielle and Della each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Danielle or Della — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Danielle or Della?
- Danielle, in 2025: Danielle ranked #549 with 550 babies; Della ranked #563 with 533 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Danielle or Della?
- Della. Over the last five years Danielle moved down 101 places; Della moved up 352 places.
- Which is the older name, Danielle or Della?
- Danielle entered the US charts in 1937; 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 Danielle and Della?
- About 361,000 people named Danielle are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 24,000 people named Della are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Do Danielle and Della share a nickname?
- Yes — both shorten to Dee, so in a house with both names the short form would not say which child is meant.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Danielle, Della and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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