Delia is a feminine given name, either taken from an epithet of the Greek moon goddess Artemis or else representing a short form of Adelia, Bedelia, Cordelia or Odelia.
Meanings and origins
According to records for the 1901 Irish census, there were 6,260 persons named Delia living that year in all 32 counties of Ireland, with 256 more bearing the full forename Bedelia (plus 59 other persons with the variant spelling Bidelia, and 361 Biddy, 529 Bride and 153984 Bridget). These related names originated as English renderings of the Irish name Brighid (or Bríd) meaning "exalted one", which originally belonged to a pagan fertility goddess (later, to an important medieval saint).
In most cases, however, the name Delia refers to the tiny Greek island of Delos (Ancient Greek: Δῆλος), the birthplace of Artemis and her twin brother Apollo.
Delia Bacon, American author
Delia Derbyshire, British composer
Delia Ephron, writer
Delia Gonzalez, American boxer
Delia Green, reported inspiration for the title character of several traditional American blues songs
Delia Matache, Romanian pop singer
Delia Parodi, Argentine politician
Delia Smith, English cookery writer, responsible for the "Delia effect"
Delia Dimitriu, Romanian Beauty born in Iasi
Delia Sunderland, author of In Adversity, Pull Yourself Up from the Sneaker Laces, actor, sports reporter and celebrity assistant www.inadversity.com
Delia Brown, a character on the American TV show Everwood (2002–2006; played by actress Vivien Cardone)
Delia Banks, a character on the TV show Ghost Whisperer (2005–2010; played by Camryn Manheim)
Delia (Dilly) Daedalus, younger sister of Stephen Dedalus, mentioned in James Joyce's Ulysses
Delia Deetz, a character from the 1988 movie Beetlejuice (played by Catherine O'Hara)
Delia Ketchum from Pokémon, the mother of Ash Ketchum.
Delia Dantes, a character in Tui T. Sutherland and Kari Sutherland's Menagerie book trilogy.
Delia York, a character in the made-for-TV movie Omen IV: The Awakening (1991; played by actress Asia Vieira)
Delia Jones, the main character in Zora Neal Hurston's short story Sweat.
Delia Busby, character from the television show "Call the Midwife"
dELiA*s, Inc., a direct marketing and retail company targeting young women aged 13 to 19
Tropical Storm Delia (1973), a tropical storm of the 1973 Atlantic hurricane season
