Head to head · Girls' names
Delilah vs Stella
#51 vs #52 in 2025 · Hebrew vs Latin roots
Delilah is a whisker ahead (#51 vs #52 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Delilah is climbing the charts fast, Stella is stepping back from its peak.
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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, Delilah leads 3 measures of 6; Stella 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: Delilah #571, Stella #60 — Stella higher
- 1890s: Delilah #660, Stella #61 — Stella higher
- 1900s: Delilah #850, Stella #67 — Stella higher
- 1910s: Delilah #846, Stella #68 — Stella higher
- 1920s: Delilah #961, Stella #108 — Stella higher
- 1930s: Delilah #958, Stella #172 — Stella higher
- 1940s: Delilah #986, Stella #197 — Stella higher
- 1950s: Delilah #754, Stella #296 — Stella higher
- 1960s: Delilah #1303, Stella #438 — Stella higher
- 1970s: Delilah #913, Stella #640 — Stella higher
- 1980s: Delilah #885, Stella #882 — Stella higher
- 1990s: Delilah #1091, Stella #1082 — Stella higher
- 2000s: Delilah #506, Stella #347 — Stella higher
- 2010s: Delilah #129, Stella #57 — Stella higher
- 2020s: Delilah #57, Stella #45 — Stella higher
Stella stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Delilah | Stella |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #571 | #60 |
| 1890s | #660 | #61 |
| 1900s | #850 | #67 |
| 1910s | #846 | #68 |
| 1920s | #961 | #108 |
| 1930s | #958 | #172 |
| 1940s | #986 | #197 |
| 1950s | #754 | #296 |
| 1960s | #1303 | #438 |
| 1970s | #913 | #640 |
| 1980s | #885 | #882 |
| 1990s | #1091 | #1082 |
| 2000s | #506 | #347 |
| 2010s | #129 | #57 |
| 2020s | #57 | #45 |
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
Stella
- Canada#58
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.
Stella
Star (Latin)
Stella is simply the Latin noun for a star, used unchanged as a given name.
stella (Latin, 'star') → Stella Maris (medieval Marian title) → Stella (Italian and Spanish given name) → Stella (English, from Sidney's sonnets)
How it traveled
The word came first: stella, star, in ordinary Latin. Medieval Christian hymnody turned it into a title for the Virgin Mary — Stella Maris, star of the sea, sung in the hymn Ave Maris Stella — and Italian and Spanish speakers kept it as a personal 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.
Stella
STEL-uh
Stress on the first syllable. English, Italian and Spanish speakers all land on much the same sound, and it survives dictation over the phone without a spelling.
- Stell — The oldest and plainest clipping, used at home rather than on paper.
- Stellie — Affectionate form, most often heard in the early years.
- Ella — Taken from the tail of the name; also a fully established given name in its own right.
- Stevie — An occasional playful stretch rather than a standard short form.
Who has carried each name
Delilah
No documented entry for Delilah yet.
Stella
Stella McCartney (b. 1971) — Sustainable-fashion designer, Paul McCartney's daughter
Stella Adler (b. 1901) — Legendary acting teacher who trained Marlon Brando
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 on the way upup 19 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itDelilah runs 3 syllables, Stella 2
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Lila, Lilah and Dee
- a name that feels very nowDelilah is climbing the charts fast
Choose Stella if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsStella is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesStella is 2 syllables to Delilah's 3
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 52% for Delilah
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.
Stella
Strengths
- Four letters longer than it looks: spelled exactly as it sounds, with no variant spellings competing for it.
- The meaning is transparent to anyone who has met a Latin root — no explanation required.
- Recognized across Italian, Spanish, Polish and English, and it charts in Canada as well as the US.
To consider
- A great many people will hear Stanley Kowalski bellowing it in A Streetcar Named Desire. It is the single loudest association the name carries, and it is not going anywhere.
- Stella Artois means the name gets a beer joke now and then, mostly from adults.
- It sits in a large family of -ella and -a endings currently in wide use, so it can blend with Ella, Bella and Luna in a roll call.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
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.
Stella
12%chance Stella feels dated by 2040
Stella has held the top-100 across 6 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
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 Delilah and Stella 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
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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 Stella — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Delilah or Stella — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Delilah or Stella?
- Delilah, in 2025: Delilah ranked #51 with 4,137 babies; Stella ranked #52 with 4,136 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Delilah or Stella?
- Delilah. Over the last five years Delilah moved up 19 places; Stella moved down 10 places.
- Which is the older name, Delilah or Stella?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Delilah and Stella?
- About 63,500 people named Delilah are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 111,000 people named Stella are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Delilahs or Stellas in the classroom?
- Delilah will almost certainly be the only one in school. Stella 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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