Boy · Old High German
Dietrich
Say it: DEE-trikh
Meaning
German form of Theodoric, from theud 'people' and ric 'ruler'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Medieval German poetry turned Theodoric the Great into the hero Dietrich von Bern.
Its wave through time
Popular now
In the United States
- 2,053 babies given this name since 1917
- At its height in 2016, about 1 in 32,700 boys
- 25 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- The Renaissance1400 to 1600
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Dieter
| English | Derek |
|---|---|
| French | Thierry |
| Dutch | Dirk |
| Gothic | Þiudareiks |
Famous bearers
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, theologian
- Dietrich Buxtehude, composer
- Dietrich von Bern, legendary hero
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Well-known works of literature
- Medieval European charters and records
- National birth statistics of European countries 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.