Dalilah
Feminine · Hebrew roots
Dalilah is the older Latin spelling of a very old name coming back through a modern door: the Vulgate wrote the Hebrew name as Dalila, and that a-first shape survived into Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Arabic while English settled on Delilah. Three unhurried syllables, all open vowels, ending in the same soft -lah that Lila and Layla carry. Familiar enough to be read at a glance, uncommon enough to stay yours.
How old is the name Dalilah?
Dalilah first appears in US birth records in 1970 — 55 years ago. The typical Dalilah is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 5,100 people named Dalilah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Dalilah most popular?
Dalilah peaked in 2013, reaching #988 nationally. Today it ranks #1173, 185 places below that high. See the whole 2013 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Delilah (Hebrew, Judges) to Dalilah
The story of Dalilah
The Hebrew name belongs to the Book of Judges, and its route into Europe runs through translation: the Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible rendered it Dalida, and the Latin Vulgate wrote Dalila — which is why Spanish, Italian and Portuguese still use Dalila today, while English readers of later Bibles inherited Delilah. Dalilah sits between the two, the Latin vowel with an English -h. On the Arabic side the name stands on its own feet, built from dalil, "guide," and it traveled with Arabic into Swahili as Dalila. So a single spelling now serves both a biblical inheritance and an Arabic one, and in American records the two have simply pooled.
Meaningscholars disagree
"delicate" or "she who weakened" in Hebrew; "guide" in Arabic
Two serious readings, from two languages. The Hebrew name of the woman in the Book of Judges is usually traced to the root dalal, "to weaken, to hang low," giving "delicate" or "the one who weakened him." Separately, Arabic Dalilah is read from dalil, "guide, proof" — a genuinely different name that arrived at nearly the same spelling. Which one applies depends on which road a family is traveling.
How the name formed
- DelilahHebrew, Judges
- DalidaGreek Septuagint
- DalilaLatin Vulgate
- DelilahEnglish
- Dalilah
Related forms: Dalila · Dalila · Delilah · Dalila · Dalilah / دليلة · Dalila
Pronouncing Dalilah
duh-LY-luh
That is the usual English reading, rhyming with Delilah. In Spanish- and Arabic-speaking households it is dah-LEE-lah, with the middle vowel long and even. Both are correct for this spelling; a family generally picks one and repeats it.
Nicknames for Dalilah
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1970
- Most girls named
- 2008263 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #988reached in 2013
- Change vs 2024
- −17.2%197 in 2025, from 238
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Dalilah in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Dalila in Spanish — same name
- Dalila in Italian — same name
- Delilah in English — spelling variant
- Dalila in Portuguese — same name
- Dalilah / دليلة in Arabic — transliteration
- Dalila in Swahili — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Dalilahs among us
people named Dalilah are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 8,159 born in 2025 was named Dalilah
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Dalilah
- #1173
- Dalilah on the 2025 chart
- #606
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Dalilah went to 197 girls in 2025, but Dalila, Dalylah and Dalyla are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 382, which makes it the 606th most-given girls’ name of the year — 567 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 4,208 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 8,159 for Dalilah itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Melony test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Dalilah's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Melony climbed just as high around 1966, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Melony's path sketches the road Dalilah is walking now.
Dalilah sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Dalilah is headed
Dalilah should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Dalilah beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Dalilah in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Instantly readable, because nearly everyone already knows the Delilah spelling — no one has to be taught how to say it.
- Ready-made short forms, Lila and Lilah, that also work as standalone names on a resume or a nametag.
- Works in more than one language: Dalila is current in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian, and Dalilah in Arabic.
- A documented line running from the Hebrew Bible through Greek and Latin translation, unbroken in one form or another ever since.
- Delilah is the spelling most Americans default to, so Dalilah will be corrected on forms, coffee cups and class lists for life. Worth deciding early whether you spell it out cheerfully or let it ride.
- The biblical Delilah is remembered for betraying Samson, and the name still carries that story for some listeners — as does the 1968 Tom Jones song. Others hear only the sound. Either way, it comes up occasionally rather than constantly.
- Two live pronunciations, duh-LY-luh and dah-LEE-lah, mean bilingual families may find the name said two ways in two places. Many treat that as a feature, not a problem.
- It is uncommon enough that she will likely be the only Dalilah in her school, which cuts both ways: nothing to share, and nothing to hide behind.
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What they receive
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Dalilah
Feminine · Hebrew roots · #1173 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Dalilahs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,100 people named Dalilah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Dalilah?
- Dalilah is the most-used spelling in US records — 197 of the 382 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Dalila, Dalylah and Dalyla.
- How popular is the name Dalilah in 2025?
- Dalilah ranks #1173 among US girl names in 2025, with 197 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Dalilah?
- About 1 in every 8,159 US girls born in 2025 was named Dalilah — 197 in all.
- Will my child share the name Dalilah with classmates?
- Dalilah will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Dalilah
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Klover#1173 · Leni#1173 · Scarlette#1173 · Kassandra#1173 · Elyana#1173 · Carson#1173 · Susanna#1173 · Aleyna#1173
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Dalilah? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Dalilah and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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