Delford
From a valley or ford near a dell or small valley.
Name Census estimates that about 196 living Americans carry the first name Delford. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Delford today is around 74 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Delford births was 1925 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Delford. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Delford is about 74 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Delfords were born before 1962.
People living today
196
~ 1 in 1,748,747 Americans
Peak year
1925
19 babies that year
Average age
74
years old
1981 SSA rank
#4,230
Tracked since 1913
Census
Delford in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 251 people with the first name Delford, which placed it at #33,109 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#33,109
National first-name rank
People counted
251
251 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
59.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Delford
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Delford is White at 59.4%. The next largest groups are Black (24.7%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (10.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Delford described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Delford at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White59.4% · 149
- Black or African American24.7% · 62
- American Indian and Alaska Native10.8% · 27
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 7
- Two or more races2.4% · 6
Popularity
Delford: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Delford from the 1910s through to the 1980s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 137 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Delford by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Delford during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Delfords live
Origin
Meaning and history of Delford
The given name Delford has its origins in the Old English language, which was spoken in parts of Britain from the 5th to the 11th century. It is derived from the combination of two Old English words, "deall" meaning "meadow" or "open land," and "ford," referring to a shallow place where a river or stream can be crossed.
This name likely originated among the Anglo-Saxon settlers in England during the early medieval period, possibly as a descriptive name for someone who lived near a ford or crossing in a meadow or open area. It may have been used to identify a specific location or settlement near such a geographical feature.
While there are no known references to the name Delford in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is possible that the name was in use among common people in certain regions of England during the Anglo-Saxon era. However, written records from that period are scarce, especially for common names used by ordinary individuals.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Delford dates back to the late 12th century, when a person named Delford de Hamton was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Northamptonshire in England in the year 1195. This suggests that the name was in use, at least among the upper classes, by the late 12th century.
Throughout history, there have been a few notable individuals who bore the first name Delford. One such person was Delford M. Smith (1890-1968), an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Oregon from 1939 to 1945.
Another notable Delford was Delford Chalmers (1909-1983), a Canadian politician and businessman who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1958 to 1966.
In the realm of sports, Delford M. Derrick (1903-1976) was an American baseball player who played for the Philadelphia Athletics and the Chicago White Sox in the 1920s and 1930s.
Delford E. Lewis (1936-2018) was an American author and professor of English literature, known for his works on American literature and popular culture.
Delford L. Baugher (1920-2003) was an American soldier who served in World War II and received the Bronze Star for his actions during the Battle of the Bulge.
It is worth noting that while the name Delford has been in use for centuries, it has never been a particularly common or widespread name, especially in more recent times. Its use has likely been more localized and concentrated in certain regions or communities where it had cultural or historical significance.
People
Delford + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Delford as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Delford: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Delford?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 196 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Delford going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,748,747 US residents.
Is Delford a common name?
We classify Delford as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 548 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Delford most popular?
The single biggest year for Delford was 1925, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Delford is about 74 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Delford in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 251 people with the name Delford, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,109 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Delford in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Delford?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Delford appears almost entirely male. Of the 248 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Delford?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Delford is White at 59.4%. The next largest groups are Black (24.7%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (10.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Delford most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Delford in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.4% (149 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Delford in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Delford a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Delford in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Delford still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Delford in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Delford can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Delford?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.