Delores is an American spelling variant of Dolores — from the Spanish María de los Dolores ("Mary of the Sorrows"), referring to the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mary in Catholic devotion. A top-100 US baby name from 1920 to 1940, peaking at #69 in 1930. Delores Taylor (1932-2018) — American actress and screenwriter; co-wrote and starred in Billy Jack (1971), one of the most-profitable independent films of its era and a touchstone of the counterculture movement. Delores "Dee Dee" Sharp (born 1945) — American singer; "Mashed Potato Time" (1962) reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100; a pioneer of the early-1960s dance-craze pop era. Delores Hall — Tony Award winner for Your Arms Too Short to Box with God (1977). *Delores in The Cranberries — the lead singer Dolores O'Riordan used the standard spelling. The name remains tied to its devotional Catholic roots while functioning as a vintage-Americana revival candidate alongside Doris and Gloria. Saint Mary of the Sorrows is venerated on September 15 (the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows). Delores Wells — Playboy* model and actress.
Featured throughout 20th-century American culture and Catholic devotion.
Delores does not currently appear in the US Social Security Administration's top 1,000 girls' names, so we don't publish a US rank or birth count for it. That says nothing about the name's standing elsewhere in the world — only that it sits outside the ranked US data we rely on.
In Pythagorean numerology the letters of Delores reduce to 6, The Nurturer. This is a traditional interpretive system, not a factual claim about the name.