Delilah ranks at #262 with 433 entries, and the name has been climbing in pet circles since the late 2000s. The Plain White T's song Hey There Delilah (2006) put the name in millennial heads, and the same generation now owns the dogs and cats wearing it.
The 2006 song effect
Delilah was a sleepy biblical name for most of the 20th century. The Plain White T's track gave it pop visibility just as that listening cohort started adopting pets. Compare with Luna and Penelope, which followed similar millennial-anchored climbs from different cultural triggers.
Sound and shape
The three-syllable shape (deh-LIE-lah) lands on the middle syllable, giving the name a singing-out quality that calls beautifully across a yard. Delilah works particularly well on female dogs with longer faces and softer coats — Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Cocker Spaniels, and small fluffy mixed breeds carry it at higher rates than working breeds. Owners cross-shopping the same register also consider Daisy and Dixie.
The biblical counter-reading
One reading worth noting: in the Samson story, Delilah is the betrayer, which gives some owners pause. Most modern Delilah owners do not engage with that reading at all — the song has effectively rewritten the cultural register to something softer and more romantic. The Delilah baby name page shows the same post-2006 climb on the human SSA chart.