Holding steady.
Popularity of Cardelia since 1903
Babies named Cardelia per year in U.S. Social Security records. Raw births topped out in 1951, but relative to how few babies were recorded back then, Cardelia's real moment was 1903.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 5 |
| 1910s | 19 |
| 1920s | 36 |
| 1930s | 12 |
| 1940s | 12 |
| 1950s | 45 |
| 1960s | 6 |
| 1970s | 5 |
| 1980s | 0 |
| 1990s | 0 |
| 2000s | 0 |
| 2010s | 0 |
| 2020s | 0 |
Meaning & origin
Cardelia is an extraordinarily rare feminine name that first appeared in U.S. birth records in 1903, a single instance that marks both its debut and its peak year. It has never ranked among the top 1,000 names, and its trajectory has been stable over more than a century, with no recorded births in many intervening years. The name likely derives from Cordelia, though its exact etymology is uncertain; it may be a deliberate variant or an independent modern coinage. Due to its scarcity, no top states or notable bearers exist, and the name has never experienced a revival. Parents choosing Cardelia today would be selecting a name with a unique, almost singular history in American records.
Cardelia is likely an elaborated variant of Cordelia, a name of uncertain origin popularized by Shakespeare's King Lear. Alternatively, it may be a modern coinage combining sounds like 'car' or 'card' with the fashionable suffix '-elia'. The name was first recorded in the United States in 1903, suggesting a 20th-century emergence with no long historical lineage.
Nicknames & variants
Nicknames: Cardi, Deli, Lia, Cardie
Variants: Cordelia
Sibling names for Cardelia
Names that share Cardelia's style, for a brother or sister.
