Dillie
Feminine
Dillie is an old American pet name of two syllables, written on birth records as a name in full. It is cheerful and small, from an earlier generation.
How old is the name Dillie?
Dillie was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Dillie alive today was born around 1912, making them about 113 years old. Fewer than a hundred people named Dillie are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
When was the name Dillie most popular?
Dillie peaked in 1881, reaching #623 nationally. See the whole 1881 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Dillie
Pet names ending in -ie were often written on birth records as full names, and Dillie is one of them, a name that sounds like a nickname because it probably was one. What it shortened is lost. It has the brightness of a word called across a kitchen, and it asks for nothing more.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No source records which longer name, if any, Dillie came from. It may shorten Dilys, Odelia or Delilah, and the record does not say.
Pronouncing Dillie
DIL-ee
Two syllables, stressed on the first.
Nicknames for Dillie
Limited
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 190518 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #623reached in 1881
- Change vs 1947
- −54.5%5 in 1948, from 11
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.
Dillies among us
Fewer than a hundred people named Dillie are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Dillie 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
- It is cheerful and easy to say.
- It is almost never given now, so it is distinctive.
- It sounds like dilly, as in a dilly of a problem.
- It reads as a nickname, and some will ask for the full name.
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Dillie
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Dillies are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. Fewer than a hundred people named Dillie are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
- How popular is the name Dillie in 2025?
- Dillie is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Dillie with classmates?
- Dillie 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 Dillie? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Dillie and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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