Dalilah

What Does the Name Dalilah Mean?

Dalilah is a spelling of the biblical name Delilah, which comes from Hebrew. Its meaning is not settled. The explanation most often repeated is that it comes from a Hebrew root dll meaning "to be weak" or "to hang down," giving a sense like "delicate" or "languishing." A second suggestion links the name to an Arabic root meaning "to coax" or "to flatter," which would give a sense like "coaxing" or "flirtatious," but this is disputed and is not widely accepted. Because both explanations rest on a guessed root, the honest summary is that the Hebrew name has no certain meaning.

Dalilah is not a separate name with its own derivation. The a in place of the e is a change of spelling only; the source language and the disputed meaning stay the same. The closely related form Dalila is the usual spelling of the biblical name in Spanish, Italian, and French.

Arabic has a similar-sounding name, Dalīlah (دليلة), which can mean "guide" or "proof," from dalīl. It is not always clear whether a given Arabic-speaking Dalila is named for that word or for the biblical figure, so the two should not be assumed to be the same name.

Dalilah Name History & Origins

The name belongs to a woman in the book of Judges, in the story of Samson (Judges 16). Delilah lives in the valley of Sorek and is paid by Philistine rulers to discover the source of Samson's strength. She asks him three times and is put off; on the fourth he tells her that his uncut hair is the secret, she has it cut while he sleeps, and the Philistines seize him. The name occurs in the Hebrew Bible only in this story.

From Hebrew the name passed into the Greek Old Testament, where it appears in a form such as Dalida, and into the Latin Vulgate, where it is Dalila. That Latin form lies behind the standard spellings in Spanish, Italian, and French (Dalila). English Bibles use the form Delilah, and English spellings such as Dalilah follow from it as respellings rather than as a different name.

Delilah's role in the story shaped how the name was received. Jewish commentary in the Talmud reads the name as a play on a verb meaning to weaken or drain, describing what she did to Samson. In Christian tradition she became a byword for a betraying or seductive woman, and that reputation is often given as the reason the name has been less common than other Old Testament names such as Sarah, Rachel, or Deborah.

Later writers and composers returned to the story. John Milton gave Delilah a long scene with Samson in Samson Agonistes (1671), in which she visits him in prison and defends herself. Camille Saint-Saëns's opera Samson et Dalila (1877) made her a leading mezzo-soprano role. In the twentieth century the name also appeared in popular song, including Tom Jones's "Delilah" (1968). These works drew on the biblical figure; they did not originate the name.