Fun Facts About the Name Dahlia
- More than 19 thousand babies named Dahlia: U.S. records list 19,351 babies given the name Dahlia from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Dahlia Mean?
Dahlia is a flower name, taken from the botanical genus Dahlia. The genus name is the surname Dahl with the botanical suffix -ia added. Dahl is a surname found in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, and it comes from Old Norse dalr, "valley," so the root meaning behind the name is "valley." The genus honors the Swedish botanist Anders Dahl, which makes the customary sense of the given name the flower named for him.
Dahlia is not related to the similar-looking Dalia, which is a separate name with Hebrew and Spanish origins.
Dahlia Name History & Origins
The dahlia plant is native to the highlands of Mexico and Central America and was grown in Mexico long before Europeans arrived. Spanish botanists cultivated it at the Royal Botanical Garden in Madrid in the late 18th century, and in 1791 the Spanish botanist Antonio José Cavanilles published the genus name Dahlia, honoring Anders Dahl (1751 - 1789), a Swedish botanist who had studied under Linnaeus at Uppsala and died young.
The choice of name was contested. In 1803 Carl Ludwig Willdenow renamed the genus Georgina after the Russian botanist Johann Gottlieb Georgi, and German speakers long called the flower Georgine; in Spanish it remains dalia. As the flower spread through European gardens in the 19th century, Dahlia entered English as a personal name, fitting the period's fashion for flower names such as Violet, Daisy, and Lily. Because the genus was named in 1791, use as a personal name cannot predate the flower's introduction to European cultivation.
In the 20th century the name picked up a darker association: the Los Angeles press nickname "Black Dahlia" for Elizabeth Short, whose 1947 murder became a widely known unsolved case and later the subject of a novel and film. The dahlia is also the national flower of Mexico.
How Popular is the Name Dahlia?
Dahlia recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2025. Its best rank was #215 in 2025.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #215 | 1,420 | 0.0883% |
| 2024 | #240 | 1,300 | 0.0806% |
| 2023 | #253 | 1,226 | 0.0765% |
| 2022 | #278 | 1,133 | 0.0691% |
| 2021 | #310 | 1,038 | 0.0633% |
| 2020 | #355 | 872 | 0.0540% |
| 2019 | #372 | 848 | 0.0505% |
| 2018 | #412 | 752 | 0.0442% |
| 2017 | #391 | 797 | 0.0462% |
| 2016 | #387 | 853 | 0.0482% |
| 2015 | #413 | 777 | 0.0435% |
| 2014 | #445 | 721 | 0.0404% |
| 2013 | #440 | 695 | 0.0396% |
| 2012 | #523 | 579 | 0.0329% |
| 2011 | #538 | 538 | 0.0306% |
| 2010 | #650 | 451 | 0.0254% |
| 2009 | #661 | 445 | 0.0242% |
| 2008 | #747 | 397 | 0.0210% |
| 2007 | #803 | 356 | 0.0185% |
| 2006 | #988 | 263 | 0.0138% |
| 2005 | #1,193 | 192 | 0.0104% |
| 2004 | #1,266 | 170 | 0.0093% |
| 2003 | #1,204 | 177 | 0.0097% |
| 2002 | #1,243 | 160 | 0.0089% |
| 2001 | #1,439 | 131 | 0.0073% |
| 2000 | #1,363 | 137 | 0.0075% |
| 1999 | #1,381 | 128 | 0.0072% |
| 1998 | #1,260 | 144 | 0.0081% |
| 1997 | #1,378 | 124 | 0.0071% |
| 1996 | #1,521 | 105 | 0.0060% |
| 1995 | #1,957 | 70 | 0.0040% |
| 1994 | #1,757 | 83 | 0.0046% |
| 1993 | #2,732 | 44 | 0.0024% |
| 1992 | #2,398 | 54 | 0.0029% |
| 1991 | #2,630 | 46 | 0.0025% |
| 1990 | #2,814 | 41 | 0.0022% |
| 1989 | #2,422 | 48 | 0.0026% |
| 1988 | #2,657 | 40 | 0.0022% |
| 1987 | #3,188 | 29 | 0.0017% |
| 1986 | #2,691 | 36 | 0.0021% |
| 1985 | #2,291 | 44 | 0.0026% |
| 1984 | #2,583 | 36 | 0.0021% |
| 1983 | #2,525 | 36 | 0.0022% |
| 1982 | #2,781 | 33 | 0.0019% |
| 1981 | #2,454 | 39 | 0.0023% |
| 1980 | #2,100 | 49 | 0.0030% |
| 1979 | #1,902 | 55 | 0.0034% |
| 1978 | #2,316 | 39 | 0.0025% |
| 1977 | #1,740 | 59 | 0.0038% |
| 1976 | #1,870 | 49 | 0.0033% |
| 1975 | #2,102 | 41 | 0.0028% |
| 1974 | #2,260 | 35 | 0.0024% |
| 1973 | #1,948 | 42 | 0.0029% |
| 1972 | #2,234 | 34 | 0.0022% |
| 1971 | #2,008 | 42 | 0.0025% |
| 1970 | #1,880 | 46 | 0.0026% |
| 1969 | #2,032 | 38 | 0.0023% |
| 1968 | #2,256 | 29 | 0.0018% |
| 1967 | #2,283 | 28 | 0.0017% |
| 1966 | #1,925 | 36 | 0.0021% |
| 1965 | #2,482 | 24 | 0.0014% |
| 1964 | #2,315 | 28 | 0.0015% |
| 1963 | #2,261 | 28 | 0.0015% |
| 1962 | #1,953 | 35 | 0.0018% |
| 1961 | #2,483 | 24 | 0.0012% |
| 1960 | #1,860 | 37 | 0.0018% |
| 1959 | #2,242 | 26 | 0.0013% |
| 1958 | #2,172 | 27 | 0.0013% |
| 1957 | #2,578 | 20 | 0.0010% |
| 1956 | #2,333 | 23 | 0.0011% |
| 1955 | #2,647 | 18 | 0.0009% |
| 1954 | #1,565 | 42 | 0.0022% |
| 1953 | #1,791 | 31 | 0.0016% |
| 1952 | #1,986 | 26 | 0.0014% |
| 1951 | #2,191 | 21 | 0.0012% |
| 1950 | #1,657 | 32 | 0.0019% |
| 1949 | #2,153 | 21 | 0.0012% |
| 1948 | #1,786 | 28 | 0.0016% |
| 1947 | #2,294 | 19 | 0.0011% |
| 1946 | #2,173 | 19 | 0.0012% |
| 1945 | #2,952 | 10 | 0.0008% |
| 1944 | #4,159 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| 1943 | #3,081 | 10 | 0.0007% |
| 1942 | #2,445 | 14 | 0.0010% |
| 1941 | #2,034 | 17 | 0.0014% |
| 1940 | #3,572 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1939 | #2,323 | 13 | 0.0012% |
| 1938 | #1,765 | 20 | 0.0018% |
| 1937 | #4,384 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1936 | #2,554 | 11 | 0.0011% |
| 1935 | #3,214 | 8 | 0.0008% |
| 1934 | #2,967 | 9 | 0.0009% |
| 1933 | #2,922 | 9 | 0.0009% |
| 1932 | #2,052 | 16 | 0.0015% |
| 1931 | #2,127 | 15 | 0.0014% |
| 1930 | #1,954 | 18 | 0.0016% |
| 1929 | #2,117 | 16 | 0.0014% |
| 1928 | #1,743 | 23 | 0.0020% |
| 1927 | #1,897 | 21 | 0.0018% |
| 1926 | #1,787 | 23 | 0.0019% |
| 1925 | #1,703 | 25 | 0.0021% |
| 1924 | #1,820 | 23 | 0.0018% |
| 1923 | #1,791 | 23 | 0.0019% |
| 1922 | #1,653 | 26 | 0.0022% |
| 1921 | #1,682 | 26 | 0.0021% |
| 1920 | #1,830 | 22 | 0.0018% |
| 1919 | #1,812 | 21 | 0.0019% |
| 1918 | #2,223 | 16 | 0.0014% |
| 1917 | #1,860 | 19 | 0.0018% |
| 1916 | #1,965 | 17 | 0.0016% |
| 1915 | #2,068 | 15 | 0.0015% |
| 1914 | #1,613 | 17 | 0.0022% |
| 1913 | #1,614 | 14 | 0.0022% |
| 1912 | #1,874 | 10 | 0.0018% |
| 1911 | #2,011 | 7 | 0.0017% |
| 1910 | #2,496 | 5 | 0.0013% |
| 1907 | #2,139 | 5 | 0.0016% |
| 1906 | #1,782 | 6 | 0.0020% |
| 1905 | #2,004 | 5 | 0.0017% |
| 1899 | #1,444 | 6 | 0.0026% |
| 1896 | #1,229 | 8 | 0.0034% |
| 1890 | #1,377 | 5 | 0.0026% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Dahlia Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You are strong in material matters, determined and stubborn. You have good business ability. You are a good worker, steady and practical, a builder who takes responsibility well. These qualities may bring you a position of authority and power. You are a doer, down-to-earth, serious-minded, reliable, and self-disciplined; have good power of concentration. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
Position and social status is very important for you and you are always looking for way to improve your position in society. You have power and ability to chose your own destiny and achieve anything you want in life. You can expand in any direction according to your will and the set of values. You have passion for justice and belong to the position of authority. You have an inherent courage and endurance to accomplish "The Impossible Dream". With the power comes responsibility. You hold keys to the material world, but with this gift comes high spiritual responsibility to be fair and true to others. You are philosophical and mature, determined and intense with a desire to endure, often religious.
✦ Dahlia's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Dahlia's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.