Name Awesome

Del

#8,413 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

People + king, through Derek

Del has been given to 4,970 babies in the U.S. since 1909. In 2025 it ranked #8,413 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1958, with 143 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 86% boys, 14% girls all-time.

Babies named Del, 2025

1 in 368,000

Del over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Del over time

In 2025, Del went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

19092025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Del: meaning, origin, and history

People + king, through Derek

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Del means

Del belongs to the name family reached through Del → Derek → Theodoric → Theodericus. Its meaning is “people + king”.

Origin, language, and formation

Del is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Derek, Theodoric and Theodericus.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 4,298 boys were recorded with the name Del between 1909 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 143 in 1958; its best national rank was #643 in 1958.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #5,769 in 2020 to #8,413 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #9,790 in 2015 to #8,413 in 2025.

In the United States, 672 girls were recorded with the name Del between 1915 and 1973. Its highest annual count was 31 in 1956; its best national rank was #1,935 in 1956.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Del?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 368,000
9 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 190,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#8,413
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
255,323 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Del sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 255,323 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Del. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Dels were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Del was born before 1959 — so the typical Del is around 66 today.

Median birth year
1959
About 66 years old
Biggest decade
1950s
25.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
5.9%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
3,122
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1950s — 25.5% of all recorded uses (1,095).

Is Del rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−1,492
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−2,644
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
+1,377
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.29×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
6.3%
Peak was 1958 (143)
Years since peak
67
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
35.5% average annual change
Best rank ever
#643
1958

Where Del is used

Across 1910–2025, Del was most concentrated in Washington — about 1 in 25,000 boys, against 1 in 89,300 across all states with data. It was least common in South Carolina (1 in —).

04 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Washington1 in 25,000
  2. 2California1 in 33,333
  3. 3Idaho1 in 33,333
  4. 4Colorado1 in 100,000
  5. 5Florida1 in 100,000
  6. 6Illinois1 in 100,000
  7. 7Indiana1 in 100,000
  8. 8Kansas1 in 100,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Del has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Del around the world

Where Del ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2021
    #4,789
    in 2021
  • Scotland
    1988–2007
    #595
    in 2007
  • France
    1900–1949
    #1,209
    in 1949
  • Canada
    1998–1998
    #1,731
    in 1998
  • South Australia
    1970–1970
    #540
    in 1970

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Del

People whose public names include Del, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Del in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Del. Linked forms have their own page here.

DaelDellDelonDelanoDelmerDelfordDele

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Del by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#8,413
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 2,644
Best rank ever
#643
1958
Peak year
1958
143 that year
First recorded
1909
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
4,298
Count in 2025
9

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#1,935
1956
Peak year
1956
31 that year
First recorded
1915
Last recorded
1973
All-time count
672
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Del

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

DellDeltonDelvinDelanoDelonDelmerAdelDelmarDelvonDelfinoYandelFidelDeleonDelwynDelmaMendelDelosDelmasEdelWendelDelaneyDelwinAbdelDelroy

Names with a curve like Del

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Del, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

RandelLennieRandleDwaineWallyLonnyVicStanKenneyDwainJameButch

Sibling names for Del

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Del

Top names of 1958, Del's peak yearThe 1950s in fullOther names that peaked in 1958Boys' names starting with D