Delilah - Origin and Meaning of the name

[ 3 syll. de-li-lah, del-il-ah ] The girl name Delilah is pronounced as DahLAYLah ^KEY.

1: Delilah is largely used in the English and German languages, and it is derived from Hebrew origins. The name is of the meaning weak, poor; delight. The name is of obscure origin; it could be from the Hebrew element 'dal' (weak, poor) or the Hebrew for 'delight', or else it could be of Arabic roots. It was borne in the Bible by the cunning lover of Samson who betrayed him to the Philistines by trimming his hair and leaving him vulnerable. The name was nevertheless adopted by English Puritans in the 17th century, perhaps because she was also described as a beautiful and intelligent woman. The name has been publicized by Saint-Saens' opera Samson and Delilah (1877), two songs titled 'Delilah' (1917 and 1968), and a recent song titled 'Hey there Delilah' (2006).

Dalida (French), Dalilah (French), and Della (English) are variant forms of Delilah. Other forms of Delilah include the short forms Lila (English) and Lilah (English), and the variant spellings Dalila (French and Italian) and Delila (English and German).

2: Delilah's language of origin is Arabic. Derived from the word 'dalla' with the meaning to tease, to flirt.

Delilah is a popular baby girl name, and it is also perceived as trendy. The name has been rising in popularity since the 1990s. At the modest peak of its usage in 2008, 0.084% of baby girls were named Delilah. It was #193 in rank then. Out of all girl names in its family, Delilah was the 2nd most popular after the English and Indian Lila in 2008. It was 6.691% more frequently used than Delilah in that year.

Baby names that sound like Delilah include the Swahili, French, and Italian Dalila, the French Dalilah, the English and Hebrew Daliya, the English Daliyah, the English and German Delila, the English Delois, the Hebrew Dickla, the English and German Dahlia, the Arabic Dalal, the Arabic, English, German, Hebrew, Italian, Spanish, and Swahili Dalia, the English and German Daliah, the Scandinavian Daly, the English, Turkish, and Hebrew Dalya, the English Daylee, the Hungarian Dália, the Czech, Spanish, and English Dela, the English, Greek, Italian, German, and Spanish Delia, the English Deliah, the Polish Delja, and the English Della.

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