Name of the Week: Delilah

Origin:

Delilah is the name of one of the principal characters in the Book of Judges, Chapter 16, in the Hebrew Bible. As the story goes, Delilah is loved by Samson, the final Judge of Israel, and she is bribed by the Philistines to find out the source of Samson's strength. Eventually, she goads into telling her⁠—it's his hair⁠—and when he is asleep, she orders a servant to cut Samson's hair and turns him over to the Philistines.  From Biblical times to Tom Jones' classic 1968 hit song Delilah, the name Delilah has been a byword for treachery, deceit and cunning.  However, several modern critics have been keen to liberate Delilah from this stigma, pointing out that she is unique among female Biblical figures because she acts independently without relying on, or being defined by, male relatives.  Many have also pointed out that Delilah's actions are far from unusual in the Biblical narrative. Jael killed a Canaanite army commander by driving a tent peg into his head after offering him hospitality; Judith seduced and then beheaded the general of the Assyrian army in his sleep.  There is very little difference between these women's actions and Delilah's: all three exploited the weaknesses of their enemies' most prominent military foe and were the cause of their deaths. However, Jael and Judith are praised in Biblical tradition as heroines while Delilah is denigrated simply because of which side she supported.  The etymology of Delilah is under debate by scholars. Like many ancient names, its true origins, it seems, are obscured through the mists of time. Traditionally, Delilah has been derived from the Hebrew verb dalal (דָּלַל) which, in Delilah's case, is often said to mean "delicate, languishing", but it has many meanings including "to hang", "look with languishing eyes", "hang down", "be low", "to be laid low" and "weak". However, as it is still disputed whether Delilah was an Israelite or not, more recent theories have focussed on non-Hebrew sources. One theory connects Delilah to the related Arabic words dalla "to behave amorously" and dalila "a guide".** In Judges (1975), R.G. Boling put forward the argument of a meaning of "flirtatious" from the Arabic dollatum "flirt"** while K.L. Younger in Judges and Ruth (2002) attributes it to the Akkadian dalalum meaning "to praise, glorify", a name element which is widely attested in names in the ancient Near East.** Some have taken this latter theory further suggesting Delilah may be a shortened form of the theophoric Akkadian name Dalil Ishtar meaning "glory of Ishtar, devotee of Ishtar" (the Akkadian goddess of love, beauty, fertility, war, combat and political power).** Theophoric names were incredibly common, so, as Akkadian names go, this one isn't outlandish.  Many scholars agree that Delilah's name (whether Hebrew or not) was deliberately adapted by Biblical writers as a pun on laylah (לילה) the Hebrew word for "night", which was used as a clear contrast to Samson's name, derived from shemesh (שֶׁמֶשׁ) meaning "sun".***** As Caroline Blyth (2017) poetically puts it: "Ultimately, despite our best efforts to pin down a meaning for [Delilah], uncertainty will always prevail; Delilah may play a central role in the Judges 16 story, she may be the only woman in Samson's saga to be granted a moniker, but this moniker remains unfathomable. [...] Rather than being 'an everlasting curse on the lips of men', the name Delilah may instead be an everlasting enigma that captures the multifaceted complexity of this biblical persona."*

Usage:

Despite her "bad girl" Biblical reputation, Delilah can be found in baptisms from the 17th century in Britain. At this time, other 'rule-breaking' Biblical women (such as Bathsheba and Vashti) were used as names, and we should not find this unusual given that the Bible was one of the main sources for names during this period. By the 19th century, Delilah's use was low but regular and steadily declined by the mid-20th century. Data from the 1881 UK census (see image, right) demonstrates that Delilah was most common in West Yorkshire and Lancashire, as well as East Anglia. It was rare in Scotland and Wales.  Records in the England and Wales Birth Index: 1840s: 1850s: 1860s: 1870s: 1880s: 1890s: 1900s: 1910s: 1920s: 1930s: 1940s: 1950s: 1960s: 1970s: 123 births 122 births 142 births 103 births 87 births 59 births 48 births 37 births 22 births 6 births 2 births 15 births 26 births 26 births In the 1949 film Samson and Delilah, Hedy Lamarr played a more sympathetic version of Delilah. According to this re-telling, Delilah has been in love with Samson for a long time but betrays him to avenge the deaths of her father and sister, which she believes are the fault of Samson. She later comes to regret her actions and stays with him as the temple collapses around them. Samson and Delilah became the highest-grossing film of 1950*, winning two of its five Academy Awards nominations.  This may have played some small part in Delilah's modest renewal in use in the 1950s.  From 1996 to 2006, Delilah ranked consistently below the top 1000 in England and Wales. It broke into the top 1000 at #816 (37 births) in 2006, and, by 2008 it had leapt to #408 (105 births). It plateaued for two years and then, from 2011 has been on a steady and steep upward climb.  Regionally, Delilah broke into the top 100 in the South West (#89) and South East (#96) in 2017.  It cracked the combined England and Wales top 100 in 2018 at #90 with 601 births.   Individually, it ranked #90 in England and #107 in Wales in 2018. It was also more common for younger mothers, ranking at #46 for mothers under 25, #71 for mothers aged 25-29, #124 for mothers aged 30-34 and #170 for aged 35 and over. In Scotland, Delilah saw very little use at all from 1975 to 2010—only given to seven girls overall in that time. In 2012, it rose to #426 (8 births) but its ranks has fluctuated since. To date, Delilah peaked at #289 (13 births) in Scotland in 2017.  In 2018, Delilah ranked #348 with 10 births in Scotland.  In Northern Ireland, Delilah is even rarer. It reached a peak of #355 (4 births) in 2017 but was given to fewer than 3 babies in 2018, putting it well below the top 500.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Delilah Leontium Beasley (1867–1934), American historian and newspaper columnist. * Delilah Pierce (1904–1992), African-American artist, curator and educator. Contemporary: * Delilah Rene (b. 1960), American radio personality. * Delilah Cotto (b. 1970) Puerto Rican-American actress, dancer and model. * Delila Hatuel (b. 1980), Israeli fencer. * Delilah DiCrescenzo (b. 1983), American distance runner. * Delilah Fishburne (b. 2007), daughter of actors Laurence Fishburne and Gina Torres. * Delilah Genoveva del Toro (b. 2011), daughter of actors Benicio del Toro and Kimberly Stewart. * Delilah Grace Cavendish (b. 2012), daughter of cyclist Mark Cavendish and model Peta Todd. * Delilah Grace Wilshere (b. 2013), daughter of footballer Jack Wilshere. * Delilah Ruby Sinclair (b.2018), daughter of British soap actress Helen Flanagan and footballer Scott Sinclair.  * Delilah-Rae Monk (b. 2018), daughter of British singer Cher Lloyd.  Literature and Other Media: * Delilah, a 1973-1974 Canadian sitcom * Delilah "Del" Dingle, in the British soap opera Emmerdale (2005-2007). * Delilah, main in the animated series Delilah & Julius. * "Delilah", Tom Jones song (1968). * "Delilah", Queen song (1991) * "Delilah", a song by The Cranberries (1999). * "Delilah", Florence and the Machine song (2015).

Variants:

Delila, Dalilah (Biblical variants), Dalila (French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese), Dalida (Greek, Russian, Slovak, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Croatian, Czech)

Pronunciation:

də-LĪ-lə [key]

Possible  diminutives:

Dell, Della, Dellie, Dolly, Lila, Lyla

Sibling Names:

Arabella     Savannah     Ariana     Sienna     Aurora     Eliana  Dominic     Reuben     Elijah     Leon     Rowan     Finley

Name Lists:

Vintage Names   Ripe Renovations

 

If you like Delilah you may also like:   Tallulah, Amaya, Dahlia, Atarah, Lyra, Violet, Kezia, Maya, Ariella, Talitha

Thanks to Alice for requesting this name.