Deryck
A masculine name derived from the Old English name Derric meaning "ruler of the people."
Name Census estimates that about 539 living Americans carry the first name Deryck. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Deryck today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Deryck births was 2009 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Deryck. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Deryck with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
539
~ 1 in 635,908 Americans
Peak year
2009
18 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2019 SSA rank
#6,873
Tracked since 1962
Census
Deryck in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 715 people with the first name Deryck, which placed it at #15,935 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
#15,935
National first-name rank
People counted
715
715 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
37.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Deryck
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deryck is Black at 37.1%. The next largest groups are White (34.5%) and Hispanic (14.8%). 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 Deryck 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 Deryck at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American37.1% · 265
- White34.5% · 247
- Hispanic or Latino14.8% · 106
- Two or more races6.6% · 47
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.2% · 44
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 6
Popularity
Deryck: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Deryck from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 128 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Deryck remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Deryck 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 Deryck during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Derycks live
Origin
Meaning and history of Deryck
The name Deryck has its origins in the Old English language, stemming from the Germanic root "deor," meaning "beloved" or "precious." It is believed to have emerged during the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, which lasted from the 5th to the 11th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Deryck can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership and taxation commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This historical record suggests that the name was already in use among the Anglo-Saxon population at that time.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Deryck appeared sporadically in various chronicles and legal documents. It was often spelled in different ways, such as Deric, Derric, or Derryk, reflecting the variations in spelling and pronunciation common during that era.
One notable historical figure bearing the name Deryck was Deryck Carleton, a 16th-century English poet and playwright. Born in 1558, Carleton is best known for his satirical works, which provided commentary on the social and political climate of Elizabethan England.
In the 17th century, Deryck Hoskins, a Welsh mathematician and surveyor, made significant contributions to the field of cartography. His detailed maps of England and Wales, published in the 1660s, were highly regarded for their accuracy and precision.
During the 18th century, Deryck Fothergill, an English physician and botanist, gained recognition for his work in the study of plants and their medicinal properties. Born in 1712, Fothergill was a member of the Royal Society and made valuable contributions to the field of natural history.
In the 19th century, Deryck Eversley, a British soldier and explorer, embarked on several expeditions to Africa. His detailed accounts of his travels and encounters with local cultures provided valuable insights into the continent's geography and ethnography.
Another notable figure was Deryck Wibault, a French-born British aviation pioneer who played a crucial role in the development of aircraft design and manufacturing in the early 20th century. Born in 1888, Wibault's innovative ideas and contributions to the aviation industry left a lasting impact.
People
Deryck + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Deryck 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
Deryck: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Deryck?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 539 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Deryck 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 635,908 US residents.
Is Deryck a common name?
We classify Deryck as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 561 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Deryck most popular?
The single biggest year for Deryck was 2009, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Deryck is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Deryck in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 715 people with the name Deryck, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,935 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 Deryck 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 Deryck?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Deryck appears almost entirely male. Of the 718 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Deryck?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deryck is Black at 37.1%. The next largest groups are White (34.5%) and Hispanic (14.8%). 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 Deryck most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Deryck in the 2020 Census, accounting for 37.1% (265 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 Deryck in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Deryck a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Deryck 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 Deryck still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Deryck 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 Deryck 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 Americans are named Deryck?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.