Delilah · Daily fortune

Delilah is a feminine name of Hebrew and biblical origin. Behind the Name gives its meaning as "delicate, weak, languishing" in Hebrew, while Wikipedia calls it a name of uncertain meaning; the two sources disagree, so the gloss should be treated as one interpretation rather than settled fact. In the Old Testament Delilah is the lover of Samson, whom she betrays to the Philistines by cutting his hair, the source of his power. Despite that story, the Puritans began using the name in the 17th century, and it has been in occasional use in English since. Its recent rise, which Wikipedia links to the 2006 song "Hey There Delilah", carried it to #51 for girls in the United States in 2025.

The two sources consulted do not agree. Behind the Name states that Delilah "means 'delicate, weak, languishing' in Hebrew" and lists that gloss as the name's meaning. Wikipedia's article on the given name opens by calling Delilah "a feminine given name of uncertain meaning" and offers no Hebrew root of its own, while agreeing that the name is Hebrew in origin and that the best-known Delilah is the biblical character. Both agree on the language and the biblical source; they differ on whether the Hebrew meaning is known. This profile records the confidence as disputed and presents the "delicate, weak, languishing" gloss with attribution to Behind the Name only. Behind the Name's own Delilah entry names no parent name and no further root, so there is no second Behind the Name entry to consult for the gloss.

In the Old Testament, Delilah is the lover of Samson; she betrays him to the Philistines by cutting his hair, which is the source of his power. Behind the Name notes that despite her character flaws the name began to be used by the Puritans in the 17th century and has been used occasionally in the English-speaking world since. Wikipedia dates the name's use in the United States and United Kingdom to the mid-1600s, consistent with the Puritan adoption. The modern revival is recent and sharp: Wikipedia records Delilah among the top 1,000 US girls' names since 1997 and the top 100 since 2018, and in England and Wales among the top 500 since 2008 and the top 100 since 2018, attributing the surge partly to the 2006 song "Hey There Delilah" by Plain White T's and partly to the name's similarity in sound to Leila, Lila and Lily. The variant Dalila was among the most popular girls' names in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2021. Behind the Name lists Lila and Lilah as English diminutives, the same forms that Wikipedia says helped the name along by sounding like other fashionable names.

Delilah ranked #51 for girls in the United States in 2025 according to the Social Security Administration. Wikipedia adds the trend: the name has been among the top 1,000 US girls' names since 1997 and among the 100 most used since 2018, and in England and Wales it has been in the top 500 since 2008 and the top 100 since 2018. Wikipedia attributes the rise partly to the 2006 song "Hey There Delilah" and partly to the name's sound-alike relationship with Leila, Lila and Lily. The England and Wales figures are quoted from Wikipedia and were not checked against the ONS release. Behind the Name's own characterisation, that the name "has been used occasionally in the English-speaking world" since the 17th century, describes the long quiet period before the recent climb.

English Delilah is /dɪ.ˈlaɪ.lə/, dih-LY-lə, with the stress on the long middle syllable; Wikipedia's respelling is dil-EYE-lə. Behind the Name lists the biblical and Romance-language forms below without IPA, so their pronunciations were not verified in this pass. The biblical forms differ mainly in their first vowel: Delila in Hebrew and German against Dalila and Dalida in the Latin and Greek traditions.

Delilah is the rare biblical name chosen for its sound and glamour rather than its story. Three lilting syllables, a built-in nickname in Lila and a rock-ballad pedigree make it feel modern and slightly rebellious, closer in spirit to Scarlett or Stella than to Ruth or Esther. The biblical association is a genuine consideration for some families and a non-issue for many others; the Puritans, notably, used it anyway. It suits parents who want a name that is well known, easy to spell and a little dramatic.

The biblical Delilah overshadows every later bearer. The modern entries below are among the twelve people listed in the Wikipedia article; the article lists no fictional characters, so the song is recorded as a cultural reference rather than a bearer.

Names that share Delilah's sound, its Old Testament origin, or its dramatic modern style.