Meaning and background
The story behind Delilah
Delilah is a Hebrew biblical name best known from the account of Samson. Some naming references translate it as delicate, weak or languishing, but a scholarly reference treats its etymology as uncertain and discusses alternative explanations. Those are not equivalent levels of evidence. The modern name remains recognisable in English, with its lilting middle syllable, without reducing it to a single disputed ancient gloss.
- Origin
- Hebrew name borne by the biblical character Delilah in the Samson narrative Source
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About Delilah
Recorded as a dog’s name
Delilah appears in 41 dog licence records in the 2026 New York City dataset.
How to read this count
These records cover New York City and may count the same dog in more than one licence period. They are not a national popularity ranking.
Pronunciation and rhythm
/dəlaɪlə/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Stress on the second syllable in the recorded US readings.
Other dictionary readings and notation
/dəlaɪlə/ · primary stress on syllable 2D AH0 L AY1 L AH0
/dɪlaɪlə/ · primary stress on syllable 2D IH0 L AY1 L AH0
These are US dictionary readings. Personal, regional and other language pronunciations may differ.
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Sources and research notes (2)
Gender association: NYC licence-period records. Any dog can use this name.
- New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene NYC Dog Licensing Dataset — extract_year 2026 — Dog licence periods, not unique dogs; NYC only. No owner-level fields retrieved.
- Carnegie Mellon University / CMU Sphinx maintainers CMU US English Pronouncing Dictionary — US English dictionary readings; not owner-specific or exhaustive multilingual pronunciation
References support the individual facts shown. A source link does not mean the entire profile has been verified.