Derrick

Boy · Germanic, through Dutch

Derrick

Say it: DAIR-ik

Try it with your surname

Meaning

A spelling of Derek, from Low German and Dutch forms of Theodoric, Gothic þiuda 'people' and reiks 'ruler'.

Certainscholars agree on this meaning.

Brought to England by Flemish and Dutch settlers in the late Middle Ages, it became popular in the US from the 1950s.

Its wave through time

Fading since the 1980s

In the United States

012318801900192019401960198020002020Peak 1980per 1,000 babies of that sex
  • 144,563 babies given this name since 1917
  • At its height in 1980, about 1 in 432 boys
  • 508 babies in 2020

Through the ages

  1. The Renaissance1400 to 1600
  2. The Modern Age1880 to today

Used by

EnglishAmericanAfrican AmericanDutch

The family of the name

Other spellings: Derek, Deric, Derick

GermanDietrich
DutchDirk
LatinTheodoric

Famous bearers

  • Derrick Rose, American basketball player

Names worth a look

Where this comes from

  • English poll taxes and lay subsidy rolls (13th and 14th centuries)
  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.