Delilah

In 2006, the Plain White T's released their hit song, "Hey There Delilah." The next year, the song was a hit. It sent the name Delilah into the top 500. The name only continued to rise in our demonic name age.

Yes, Delilah has a demonic pedigree. In the Bible, Delilah was the lover of Samson who betrayed him to the Philistines by cutting his hair. The name's meaning adds to its dark flair. In Hebrew, the name means "weak" or "languishing."

Delilah may be Biblical, but that alone does not make it traditional. As Laura Wattenberg recently wrote on Namerology.com, parents historically named their children after Biblical characters to give them positive role models. Delilah was not the role model parents wanted for their children. Thus, while the name has been used since the seventeenth century and ranked in the top 1000 most years since 1880, Delilah was never popular.

Yet, it all began to change in the twenty-first century. As it has been stated above, the Plain White T's song sent the name up the charts. Besides, some modern parents are describing the Biblical Delilah as feminist rather than merely demonic. Delilah went on to hit the top 100 in 2018. It has been there ever since. 

Delilah is also popular in England and Australia. It has seen some use in the Netherlands and New Zealand as well. 

Delilah isn't just demonic. It also follows the current trend of double-"l" names without starting with "l". It's as lacy and delicate as Amelia and Olivia, too. Plus, it can shorten to nicknames such as "Dee Dee" and "Lila".

NICKNAMES:

Dee, Lila

STYLES:

Biblical, Exotic, Lacy

SISTERS:

Evangeline, Lorelei, Aurora, Piper, Harlow, Naomi, Jezebel, Scarlett

BROTHERS:

Judah, Lazarus, Asher, Romeo, Damien, Wyatt, Micah, Ezekiel

ALTERNATIVES:

Damaris, Dinah, Drusilla, Keturah, Lilith, Peninah, Shiloh, Tallulah

FURTHER RESOURCES:

"Delilah." Names, Behind the Name, 29 May 2020, https://www.behindthename.com/name/delilah. 

Waterhouse, Emma. "Delilah." Names, Nameberry, 18 Jul. 2023, https://nameberry.com/babyname/delilah. 

Wattenberg, Laura. "This Name Comes from the Bible. But is it Traditional?" Articles, Namerology, 26 May 2022, https://namerology.com/2022/05/26/this-name-comes-from-the-bible-but-is-it-traditional/. 

What do you think about Delilah?

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