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The progenitor of the Delano family in the Americas is Philippe Delano (de Lannoy). The 19-year-old Pilgrim of possible Flemish descent, arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts on November 9, 1621 on the ship Fortune. His descendents include Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Robert Redford, and Alan B. Shepard.

The birth of Philippe de Lannoy is recorded at Leiden on December 7, 1602. His recorded parents are Jan Lano (born Jean Delannoy in 1575 at Tourcoing) who died in 1604 at Leiden and Marie le Mahieu of Lille. His mother remarried in 1605. Philippe's grandfather, Guilbert Delannoy of Tourcoing, was an early protestant who left the mainland with his family for England probably in the early 1570s and then, in 1591, took refuge in Leiden. The Mahieus had arrived in Leiden from England in 1590, the year before the de Lannoys. The family name de Lannoy may derive from the small town of Lannoy Alnetum, east of Lille, present-day France. There is no evidence to substantiate claims that Philippe's father was of noble descent.

His father dead since infancy and his mother remarried, Philippe de Lannoy was a member of the Leiden Walloon Church (Waalse Kerk) and later entered the Separatist congregation established by the Pilgrims from Plymouth, England under the leadership of the English pastor of the pilgrim fathers, John Robinson. The decision to relocate the group to America came early in 1619. Deacon John Carver and Robert Cushman, who had business experience, were sent to London to negotiate the move with the London Company. They carried with them articles of belief, written by Robinson and Brewster, as evidence of their loyalty and orthodoxy. The Leiden Separatists bought the ship Speedwell in Holland, and Philippe, with his uncle Francis Cooke and cousin John boarded the ship with the others at Delftshaven whence it sailed to Southampton, England to meet the Mayflower, which had been chartered by the English merchant investors. There they joined with other Separatists and the additional colonists hired by the investors. The two ships began the voyage, but the Speedwell leaked so badly that the expedition had to return to England, first to Dartmouth and then to Plymouth. Finally, Speedwell was sold and Mayflower set out alone from Plymouth, England. Ten Speedwell passengers (including Francis and John Cooke) joined the Mayflower. Philippe and the others remained behind in England until a replacement ship, the Fortune, finally sailed for Plymouth Colony in early July 1621, arriving at the Plymouth Colony on November 9.

Philippe de Lannoy joined and resided with his uncle Francis Cooke (husband of his mother's sister, Hester le Mahieu) and cousin Robert who had arrived the year before. In 1623, he received a land grant in Plymouth but sold this property in 1627 and moved to Duxborough where in 1634 he married Hester Dewsbury (1613-1657). There, Delano prospered and was part of the group who organized the construction of highways and bridges around the village.

He served in the Pequot War of 1637 as a volunteer. In 1652 he joined with 35 other colonists to purchase what was then called Dartmouth Township from Massasoit, the leader of the Wampanoag. Philippe gave his portion of the acquisition, amounting to 800 acres (3.2 km²), to his son Jonathan Delano. Following the death of his wife, he married a second time to Mary Pontus. He died on August 22, 1681 in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. A great many of his offspring would become prominent mariners, whalers, and shipbuilders. The family's commercial success was such that they would become part of the Massachusetts aristocracy, sometimes referred to as one of the Boston Brahmins (the "First Families of Boston").

His son Jonathan married Mercy Warren, granddaughter of Mayflower passenger Richard Warren; among their direct descendants are the author Laura Ingalls Wilder, President Ulysses S. Grant, anthropologist Robert Redfield, astronaut Alan B. Shepard, and the poet Conrad Potter Aiken.

Over time, family members migrated to other states including Michigan, Maine, New York, Ohio, and Vermont and as far away as Chile where today descendants of Captain Paul Delano are numerous and prominent. From the New York clan, Sara Delano married James Roosevelt and their only child, Franklin Delano Roosevelt became President of the United States.

The Delano name is also found across America where several places have been named in honor of a family member:

• Delano, California named for Columbus Delano
• Delano, Minnesota named for Francis R. Delano
• Delano, Pennsylvania & Delano Township, Pennsylvania named for Warren Delano II

Some notable members of the Delano family in America:

• Barbara Delano, wildlife conservationist
• Columbus Delano (1809-1896), statesman
• Diane Delano, (born 1957), actress
• Francis R. Delano, (1842-1892), banker, railroad executive
• Jane Arminda Delano, (1862-1919) prominent nurse
• John G. DeLano, (1979-), world renouned geotechnical engineer
• Joseph C. Delano, (1796-1886), ships captain
• Gerard Delano, (1890-1972), painter
• Paul Delano, (1775-1842), Commander of the Chilean Department of the Navy
• Suzanne Upjohn DeLano, (born 1922), pioneer aviatrix
• Warren Delano II, (1809-1898), merchant of the clipper ship period
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt, (1882-1945), President of the United States
• William Adams Delano (1874-1960), architect
• William A. Delano (1924-2003), First General Counsel of the Peace Corps

De Lannoy - Le Mahieu research. March 2007, Jeremy Dupertuis Bangs, Delano Kindred

Philip Delano of the "Fortune" 1621 and his descendants of Four Generations, Muriel Curtis Cushing, General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1999

L'historie et les ancetres de la familie de Philippe Delano (Philippe de Lannoy), George English, Le Parchemin Mars-Avril 2007

• The AMERICAN HOUSE OF DELANO