Derrik
Of Germanic origin, one whose occupation involves leading a team of draft animals.
Name Census estimates that about 2,046 living Americans carry the first name Derrik. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Derrik today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Derrik births was 1991 (102 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Derrik. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
2.0K
~ 1 in 167,524 Americans
Peak year
1991
102 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2023 SSA rank
#12,664
Tracked since 1954
Census
Derrik in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,912 people with the first name Derrik, which placed it at #7,803 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#7,803
National first-name rank
People counted
1.9K
1,912 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
65.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Derrik
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Derrik is White at 65.7%. The next largest groups are Black (13.8%) and Hispanic (11.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Derrik described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Derrik at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.7% · 1,256
- Black or African American13.8% · 263
- Hispanic or Latino11.0% · 211
- Two or more races5.7% · 109
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 52
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 21
Popularity
Derrik: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Derrik from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 690 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Derrik by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Derrik during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Derriks live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Derrik, while Wisconsin, Nebraska, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Derrik
The name Derrik is derived from the Old English name Deric, which is a variant of the Germanic name Theodoric. The name Theodoric is composed of two elements: "theud" meaning "people" and "ric" meaning "ruler" or "powerful". Together, the name Theodoric can be interpreted to mean "ruler of the people" or "powerful leader".
The name Derrik is believed to have originated in England during the Anglo-Saxon period, which lasted from the 5th to the 11th century. It was a popular name among the Anglo-Saxon nobility and was often used by members of the ruling class.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Derrik can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a historical record of events in Anglo-Saxon England. The name is mentioned in an entry dated around the year 878, which refers to a nobleman named Derric who was involved in a battle against the Danes.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Derrik. One of the most famous was Derrick of Marnic, a French knight who lived during the 13th century and fought in the Crusades. He was renowned for his bravery and military prowess and is mentioned in several historical texts from that era.
Another notable figure was Derrick Arundel, an English clergyman who lived in the 15th century and served as the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1396 to 1414. He played a significant role in the religious and political affairs of England during his time.
In the 16th century, Derrick Carleton was an English explorer and navigator who is credited with being one of the first Europeans to explore the Arctic regions. He undertook several voyages to the Arctic in the early 1600s and made important contributions to the field of navigation and cartography.
In the literary world, Derrick Walcott was a celebrated St. Lucian poet and playwright who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992. He was born in 1930 and is considered one of the most influential writers of the Caribbean region.
Another notable figure was Derrick Thomas, an American football player who played as a linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs in the National Football League (NFL). He was born in 1967 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest defensive players in NFL history.
People
Derrik + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Derrik as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Derrik: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Derrik?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,046 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Derrik going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 167,524 US residents.
Is Derrik a common name?
We classify Derrik as "Rare". It ranks above 93.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,142 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Derrik most popular?
The single biggest year for Derrik was 1991, when 102 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Derrik is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Derrik in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,912 people with the name Derrik, or 0.63 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,803 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Derrik in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Derrik?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Derrik appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,910 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Derrik?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Derrik is White at 65.7%. The next largest groups are Black (13.8%) and Hispanic (11.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Derrik most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Derrik in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.7% (1,256 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Derrik in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Derrik a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Derrik in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Derrik still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Derrik in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Derrik can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Derrik?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Derrik on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.