Dela

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Della in US United States, GB United Kingdom, CA Canada and 10 more, Dula in AL Albania, XK Kosovo and Dulaa in IN India.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin

No verified etymology recorded for this name yet — the entries below are drawn from usage statistics and the name graph.

Attested across 5 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Dela is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Indonesian surname76K records spelled Dela6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Philippines, Indonesia, United States, Malaysia

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Dela, Dela', Ďeĺà, Delà

• Italian surname22K records spelled Dela4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Philippines, United States, Italy, Canada

  Also written Delà, Déla, Dëlä

• a separate surname21K records spelled Dela3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Philippines, India, Ethiopia

  Also written De-La, Déla

• Hindi surname8.9K records spelled Dela8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Philippines, India, United States, United Kingdom

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu

  Also written Dèla, Délâ, Delã, Delà, Dëlå

• Romanian surname2.9K records spelled Dela3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Philippines, United States, Spain, Canada

  Also written Dëla, Dëlä

59 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Dela is also recorded in 6 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Filipino, particle found in Spanish-derived surnames when originally spelled with de la, such as dela Cruz (from earlier de la Cruz

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Cebuano, of the, from the (only in names with Spanish origins or in phrases with Spanish construction)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Swedish, to deal, share; divide something between recipients

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Portuguese, contraction of de ela: feminine singular of dele

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In ang, nominative/accusative/genitive plural of delu

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Spanish, of the, from the (followed by feminine noun)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 73 years between 1888–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Maurice Delab. 1919CACanadian composer (1919–1978)
• Sebastian Delab. 1996PLPolish actor
• Flemming DelaDKresearcher
• Jocelyn Dela-CruzAUAustralian scientist

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 340 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Dela?

We estimate roughly 93 thousand people bear Dela (counting its spellings and scripts) across 8 countries in our records.

In which country does Dela have the most bearers?

Dela is most frequently recorded in the Philippines, where it is most often spelled dela.

How common is Dela compared with other names?

In the Philippines, Dela is the most common surname of 986,934 surnames recorded there.