How many Delfords are there in the world?

No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Delford are estimated to be alive in the US today.

How popular is the name Delford in 2025?

Delford is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.

Will my child share the name Delford with classmates?

Delford will almost certainly be the only one in school.

Delford

Masculine

Rare todaygiven to only a few children a year

rare

Delford is a sturdy two-syllable name that sounds like an English place-name, a dell and a ford. It is rare and old, from an earlier American generation.

How old is the name Delford?

Delford first appears in US birth records in 1913 — 112 years ago. The typical Delford alive today was born around 1936, making them about 89 years old. About 200 people named Delford are estimated to be alive in the US today.

When was the name Delford most popular?

Delford peaked in 1917, reaching #1755 nationally. See the whole 1917 chart.

Compare this name More “D” names

Lists built from the same records:

Where it comes from

Origin, sound and short forms

Our story of Delford

Delford has the shape of an English village name, a crossing by a dell, though no record fixes one. Its first letters echo Delft, the Dutch town whose name comes from delf, a dug canal, and whose potters imitated Chinese porcelain so well that Delftware became a word for blue-and-white china. Delford owes nothing to it, but it shares that plain sound of water and working people, a name as solid as a bridge.

Meaningnot established

Not established

No source records the origin of Delford as a first name. It looks like an English place-name surname, but no such place or family is securely recorded behind it.

Pronouncing Delford

DEL-ferd

Stress on the first syllable.

Nicknames for Delford

Moderate

DelThe natural short form

FordTaken from the end

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: 1913
Most boys named: 192519 — the highest on record
Peak rank: #1755reached in 1917
Change vs 1971: +80.0%9 in 1981, from 5

Delford sits in the rare tail. Its best year on record was 1925, with 19 boys. Today it is given to few enough children that it does not enter the ranked charts at all.

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.

Delfords among us

200

people named Delford are estimated to be alive in the US today

Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method

III

Is it right for you

Questions parents actually ask

Fashion outlook

Delford 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

Practical strengths

It sounds traditional and sturdy.
Del and Ford give two short forms.

What to consider

People will take it for a surname first.
There is no recorded meaning to give when someone asks.

Nobody names a baby alone.
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Delford

Masculine

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Frequently asked

How many Delfords are there in the world?: No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Delford are estimated to be alive in the US today.
How popular is the name Delford in 2025?: Delford is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
Will my child share the name Delford with classmates?: Delford will almost certainly be the only one in school.

More D names

The most-given names starting with D, all years combined.

David^#35 · Daniel^#22 · Donald^#690 · Dennis^#707 · Douglas^#807 · Dylan^#41 · Danny^#628 · Dale^#1409

Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Delford? See the current top 100.

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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology

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