Head to head · Girls' names
Delilah vs Sadie
#51 vs #50 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Sadie is a whisker ahead (#50 vs #51 in 2025) and both are climbing the charts fast. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
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, Sadie leads 5 measures of 6; Delilah leads 0.
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: Delilah #571, Sadie #70 — Sadie higher
- 1890s: Delilah #660, Sadie #74 — Sadie higher
- 1900s: Delilah #850, Sadie #92 — Sadie higher
- 1910s: Delilah #846, Sadie #130 — Sadie higher
- 1920s: Delilah #961, Sadie #193 — Sadie higher
- 1930s: Delilah #958, Sadie #248 — Sadie higher
- 1940s: Delilah #986, Sadie #356 — Sadie higher
- 1950s: Delilah #754, Sadie #601 — Sadie higher
- 1960s: Delilah #1303, Sadie #1017 — Sadie higher
- 1970s: Delilah #913, Sadie #867 — Sadie higher
- 1980s: Delilah #885, Sadie #621 — Sadie higher
- 1990s: Delilah #1091, Sadie #340 — Sadie higher
- 2000s: Delilah #506, Sadie #171 — Sadie higher
- 2010s: Delilah #129, Sadie #81 — Sadie higher
- 2020s: Delilah #57, Sadie #65 — Delilah higher
Sadie stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Delilah took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Delilah | Sadie |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #571 | #70 |
| 1890s | #660 | #74 |
| 1900s | #850 | #92 |
| 1910s | #846 | #130 |
| 1920s | #961 | #193 |
| 1930s | #958 | #248 |
| 1940s | #986 | #356 |
| 1950s | #754 | #601 |
| 1960s | #1303 | #1017 |
| 1970s | #913 | #867 |
| 1980s | #885 | #621 |
| 1990s | #1091 | #340 |
| 2000s | #506 | #171 |
| 2010s | #129 | #81 |
| 2020s | #57 | #65 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Delilah
- England & Wales#33
Sadie
- Scotland#59
- Canada#69
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
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.
Sadie
Princess, noblewoman — through Sarah
Sadie carries the meaning of its parent name: Hebrew Sarah, "princess" or "noblewoman." How Sarah picked up a d on the way to Sadie is not explained, but the same thing happened to Sally, which took an l.
Sarai → Sarah → Sadie
How it traveled
The root is the Hebrew name Sarah, borne in Genesis by Abraham's wife, who is called Sarai before the change. English speakers wore Sarah down into pet forms over centuries — Sally in one direction, Sadie in another — and by the nineteenth century Sadie was standing alone on documents rather than hiding behind a formal name.
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
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.
Sadie
SAY-dee
One pronunciation, and English spelling rules deliver it on the first try. Note that the similar-looking Sade, the singer's name, is said shah-DAY — a different name entirely.
- Sades — Informal, mostly spoken among friends and siblings; rarely written down.
- Sadie Mae — A double-name pattern with long use in the American South, used affectionately rather than formally.
- Sarah — Works in reverse: parents who want a longer legal name often register Sarah and use Sadie every day.
Who has carried each name
Delilah
No documented entry for Delilah yet.
Sadie
Sadie Sink (b. 2002) — Stranger Things' Max
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 Delilah if you want…
- a name with more sound in itDelilah runs 3 syllables, Sadie 2
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Lila, Lilah and Dee
Choose Sadie if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesSadie is 2 syllables to Delilah's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooSadie is on the national lists of Scotland and Canada
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
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.
Sadie
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds, and short enough that a child can write it early.
- Sarah stands behind it if a longer, more formal legal name is wanted, without changing the everyday name at all.
- Unbroken presence in American records since the earliest years of the data, so it reads as old rather than newly coined.
To consider
- It is climbing steadily. A name that is uncommon in a classroom today may be considerably more familiar by the time she starts school.
- It began life as a nickname, and some ears still hear it that way — worth thinking about how it will sit on a résumé or a nameplate.
- Expect the occasional mix-up in writing with Sade, and the occasional person who reaches for Sarah instead.
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 Delilah and Sadie 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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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 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 Delilah and Sadie — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Delilah or Sadie — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Delilah or Sadie?
- Sadie, in 2025: Sadie ranked #50 with 4,168 babies; Delilah ranked #51 with 4,137 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Delilah or Sadie?
- Sadie. Over the last five years Delilah moved up 19 places; Sadie moved up 28 places.
- Which is the older name, Delilah or Sadie?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Delilah and Sadie?
- About 63,500 people named Delilah are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 99,500 people named Sadie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Delilahs or Sadies in the classroom?
- Delilah will almost certainly be the only one in school. Sadie 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
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