girl's name

Delia

DEEL-yuh

  • Origin Greek
  • Gender Girl
  • Syllables 2
  • Letters 5
  • Popularity Uncommon
  • Births on record 41,699

Ireland

#541

2025 births

Delia means of Delos, and it is a title for Artemis rather than a name in itself — she was born on that island, so calling her Delia is like calling someone the Nazarene.

  • Delia is a name of Greek origin.
  • Peaked in 1957, when 490 babies were given the name.
  • It has been falling over the past decade.
  • Today about 1 in 24,559 babies in the United States is given this name.
  • 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.

Delia over time

Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.

4,595
'80 '90 '00 '10 '20 '30 '40 '50 '60 '70 '80 '90 '00 '10 '20
Show the numbers
Births named Delia by decade in the United States
Decade Births
1880s 1,546
1890s 1,871
1900s 1,629
1910s 2,360
1920s 2,834
1930s 2,876
1940s 3,223
1950s 4,595
1960s 3,856
1970s 2,986
1980s 2,221
1990s 2,191
2000s 2,346
2010s 1,973
2020s (to 2025) 873

What Delia means

Delia means a woman of Delos. It functions as an epithet identifying a goddess by her birthplace rather than as a personal name with a translatable sense.

Where Delia comes from

Delia is the Greek Delia, of Delos — the small Cycladic island where Artemis and Apollo were born, which made it one of the most sacred sites in the Greek world and, for a time, the treasury of the Athenian empire. Using a birthplace as a divine title was ordinary. Delia also serves in English as a short form of Cordelia, Adelia and Bedelia, which are unrelated to the island.

Delia in use

Delia peaked in the United States in 1957, when 490 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 541st in Ireland on 7 births, 708th in France on 100, 1569th in the United States on 135 and 1637th in England and Wales on 19, across 41,699 lifetime births in five of the seven markets we track. France set its own peak of 120 births in 2022.

How popular is Delia?

In 2025, Delia was given to 135 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.

Where Delia is used

Ireland #541 7 in 2025
Northern Ireland #575 3 in 2021
France as Délia #708 100 in 2025
Scotland #788 4 in 2021
United States #1,569 135 in 2025
England & Wales #1,637 19 in 2025
Canada #2,253 10 in 2024

The bar shows how near the top of each country's list the name sits, on a scale where #1 fills the row and #1,000 is a sliver. The figures beside it are the real rank and the babies recorded that year.

US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.

How Delia is spelled

Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.

Spelling What it is Births on record
Délia Délia is Delia written with an acute accent, used in France, where it ranks #708. 870

Names that peaked alongside Delia

These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.

Parents who like Delia also like

Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Delia over the last century — the same taste, a different name.

Delia in other languages

The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.

Italian
Cordelia
Polish
Fidelia
Swedish
Adelia
Other forms
Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
Delina Deliana Bedelia

Sibling names for Delia

Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Delia — the two things that make a sibling set grate.

Common questions about Delia

What does the name Delia mean?

Of Delos — a title for Artemis, born on that island.

Why was Delos important?

The birthplace of Artemis and Apollo, and for a time the treasury of the Athenian empire.

Is Cordelia related?

No. Delia serves as a short form of it, but the two are unrelated in origin.

How popular is Delia?

541st in Ireland, its strongest market, and 1569th in the United States.

Is Delia a girl's or a boy's name?

Delia is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.

How many syllables are in Delia?

Delia has 2 syllables.

Is Delia a good name?

That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Delia currently ranks #541 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.