Delene
Feminine
Delene is a prefix and a suffix with nothing between them, and the suffix came into American naming from German and Scandinavian names that immigrant families already had.
How old is the name Delene?
Delene first appears in US birth records in 1915 — 110 years ago. The typical Delene alive today was born around 1954, making them about 71 years old. About 600 people named Delene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Delene most popular?
Delene peaked in 1951, reaching #1842 nationally. See the whole 1951 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Delene
The ending is worth tracing because it is usually treated as pure invention. It came into American use on real names — Helene, Marlene, Arlene, Charlene, Darlene — most of which arrived with German, Scandinavian or French families in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Those names were common enough for long enough that the tail came off them, and by the nineteen-forties it was available to anybody. So a name that looks entirely made up is carrying, in its last four letters, a small piece of the immigration history of the upper Midwest.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No stem and no meaning. The front is one of the American prefixes; the ending arrived on borrowed names and then came loose. Neither piece has ever been a word.
Pronouncing Delene
duh-LEEN
Two syllables with the stress at the back, which is what this ending does to every name it joins.
Nicknames for Delene
Moderate
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
- 1915
- Most girls named
- 196034 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1842reached in 1951
- Change vs 1984
- +33.3%8 in 1989, from 6
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.
Delenes among us
people named Delene are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Delene sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The back stress gives it a strong finish and protects it from clipping.
- It is read correctly on sight.
- It is genuinely rare now.
- Dalene, Delane and Delina are all possible spellings of the sound.
- The name places its bearer in a particular American generation.
- Neither half carries a meaning.
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Delene
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Delenes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Delene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Delene in 2025?
- Delene is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Delene with classmates?
- Delene will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More D names
The most-given names starting with D, all years combined.
Dorothy#421 · Donna#1962 · Deborah#862 · Debra#4460 · Diane#2607 · Doris#2895 · Denise#1673 · Danielle#549
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Delene? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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