Delphina
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "dolphin" or "of Delphi".
Name Census estimates that about 474 living Americans carry the first name Delphina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Delphina today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Delphina births was 1921 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Delphina. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Delphina with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
474
~ 1 in 723,110 Americans
Peak year
1921
25 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,693
Tracked since 1902
Census
Delphina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 642 people with the first name Delphina, which placed it at #17,263 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
#17,263
National first-name rank
People counted
642
642 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
44.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Delphina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Delphina is Hispanic at 44.9%. The next largest groups are White (20.2%) and Black (16.5%). 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 Delphina 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 Delphina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino44.9% · 288
- White20.2% · 130
- Black or African American16.5% · 106
- American Indian and Alaska Native12.6% · 81
- Two or more races3.0% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 18
Popularity
Delphina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Delphina from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 151 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Delphina remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Delphina 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 Delphina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Delphinas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Delphina
The name Delphina originates from the Greek language and culture. It is a feminine form of the name Delphinus, which means "dolphin" in Greek. The name likely arose in ancient Greece, where dolphins were revered as sacred creatures associated with the sea god Poseidon.
During the Roman era, the name Delphina spread throughout the Mediterranean region as the Roman Empire expanded. It was particularly popular in areas with strong Greek cultural influences, such as southern Italy and parts of the Balkans.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Delphina dates back to the 2nd century AD. A Roman woman named Delphina is mentioned in an inscription found in the ruins of Pompeii, which was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
In the 4th century, there was a Christian martyr named Delphina who was killed during the Diocletian persecution. She is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, and her feast day is celebrated on November 24th.
One of the most famous historical figures with the name Delphina was Delphina di Glandèves, a 13th-century French noblewoman and Countess of Provence (1216-1279). She played a significant role in the political affairs of the region during her lifetime.
Another notable Delphina was Delphina Potocka (1807-1876), a Polish aristocrat and writer who was known for her literary salons in Paris during the 19th century.
In the 20th century, Delphina Parry (1920-2007) was a British actress and singer who appeared in various films and television shows throughout her career.
Delphina Borge (1932-2011) was a Venezuelan painter and sculptor who was recognized for her contributions to the development of modern art in her country.
Delphina Revridge (1942-2020) was an American author and poet who wrote several books and received numerous literary awards during her lifetime.
People
Delphina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Delphina 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
Delphina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Delphina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 474 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Delphina 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 723,110 US residents.
Is Delphina a common name?
We classify Delphina as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 903 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Delphina most popular?
The single biggest year for Delphina was 1921, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Delphina is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Delphina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 642 people with the name Delphina, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,263 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 Delphina 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 Delphina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Delphina appears almost entirely female. Of the 638 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Delphina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Delphina is Hispanic at 44.9%. The next largest groups are White (20.2%) and Black (16.5%). 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 Delphina most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Delphina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.9% (288 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 Delphina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Delphina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Delphina in the SSA data are female. 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 Delphina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Delphina 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 Delphina 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 share the name Delphina?
Want to know how many Americans are named Delphina? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.