Show ContentsDilday History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Dilday family

The surname Dilday was first found in Aberdeenshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Obar Dheathain), a historic county, and present day Council Area of Aberdeen, located in the Grampian region of northeastern Scotland, where they held a family seat at Tilliedaff from very ancient times. One of the first records was John Tilliedaff who was Baillie of Aberdeen in 1317. "William de Tulliedaff was among the slain in the battle of Harlaw in 1411. A charter of sale by Andrew de Tullydeffe of that Ilk is recorded in 1450, and in the same year as Andrew Tulydefe (without 'de') he appears as a charter witness. This Andrew appears to have been the first designated 'of that ilk.' " 1

In 1535 an individual is referred to as Dillidaff, Dilledaf, and Dyllidaff.

Early History of the Dilday family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dilday research. Another 159 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1444, 1452, 1469, 1484, 1495, 1504, 1509, 1523, 1558, 1572, 1588, 1593, 1595, 1597, 1628, 1640, 1641, 1670, 1682, 1690, 1691, 1695, 1697, 1707, 1714, 1716, 1734, 1747 and 1777 are included under the topic Early Dilday History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dilday Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Tilliedaff, Tulliedaff, Tuledaff, Tullidaff, Dillidaff, Dillodaff and many more.

Early Notables of the Dilday family

Notable amongst the Clan at this time was Isabel Tullidelph, Scottish wife of James Hadow, Principal of St Mary's College, St Andrews from 1707 to 1747, married in 1697; Rev. William Tullidelph (died 1695), Scottish Principal of St. Leonard's...
Another 39 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Dilday Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dilday Ranking

In the United States, the name Dilday is the 16,977th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Migration of the Dilday family

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: John Tillidaffe settled in Maryland in 1763.


Contemporary Notables of the name Dilday (post 1700) +

  • Russell Hooper Dilday (1930-2023), American pastor, educator, seminary president, and chancellor of the B.H. Carroll Theological Institute


  1. Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
  2. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/


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