Delany
- Gender
- Girl
- Say it
- deh-LAY-nee
- Origin
- Irish
- US rank, 2025
- #2,859 for girls
Delany is a girls' name of Irish origin, meaning “dark challenge”. In 2025 it ranked 2,859th for girls in the US (59 babies).
What does Delany mean?
Irish: spelling of Delaney, an Irish surname
“dark challenge”
Delaney anglicizes the Irish surname Ó Dubhshláine, 'descendant of Dubhshláine'.
Is Delany a girl's or a boy's name?
Delany is a girls' name. In 2025, it was given to 59 girls in the US. Too few boys were given it to be listed.
How popular is Delany in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- 2,859th among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 59 about 1 in 27,000 girls
- Five-year trend
- Rising up 74% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 59 girls in the US were named Delany, making it the 2,859th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 3,546th. Its busiest year was 2024, with 90 girls. It first appears in the records in 1990.
Half of all the girls named Delany in the US since 1880 were born between 2004 and 2020, the years shaded on the chart below.
In 2025, 496 girls in the US were given Delany or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #600, up from #2,859 for this spelling alone.
Delany in the US, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 59 | #2,859 |
| 2024 | 90 | #2,118 |
| 2023 | 65 | #2,674 |
| 2022 | 73 | #2,463 |
| 2021 | 50 | #3,215 |
| 2020 | 42 | #3,546 |
| 2019 | 37 | #3,922 |
| 2018 | 44 | #3,496 |
| 2017 | 51 | #3,145 |
| 2016 | 57 | #2,934 |
| 2015 | 53 | #3,129 |
| 2014 | 43 | #3,583 |
| 2013 | 37 | #4,000 |
| 2012 | 49 | #3,313 |
| 2011 | 38 | #3,915 |
| 2010 | 54 | #3,074 |
| 2009 | 47 | #3,459 |
| 2008 | 52 | #3,221 |
| 2007 | 38 | #4,049 |
| 2006 | 33 | #4,357 |
| 2005 | 37 | #3,872 |
| 2004 | 46 | #3,261 |
| 2003 | 39 | #3,586 |
| 2002 | 44 | #3,192 |
| 2001 | 30 | #4,103 |
| 2000 | 25 | #4,644 |
| 1999 | 21 | #5,033 |
| 1998 | 20 | #5,119 |
| 1997 | 25 | #4,236 |
| 1996 | 20 | #4,878 |
| 1995 | 31 | #3,487 |
| 1994 | 15 | #5,978 |
| 1993 | 13 | #6,615 |
| 1992 | 9 | #8,726 |
| 1991 | 9 | #8,580 |
| 1990 | 12 | #6,861 |
Nicknames for Delany
- Laney 12 girls in the UK in 2025
Names like Delany
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Cassidy, Kennedy, Teagan, Mckenna, Devyn, Rowan, Heavenly, Brynlee, Reagan, Murphy, Kinley, Rory
Other spellings of Delany
Names related to Delany
More Irish names
Oscar, Maeve, Finn, Aiden, Ryan, Nolan, Quinn, Orla, Cody, Erin, Ronan, Connor, Declan, Casey, Callan, Lennon
Sources
Figures from Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Delany: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/delany, updated 20 October 2026.