Detric
An anglicized form of the German name Dietrich, meaning "powerful ruler."
Name Census estimates that about 412 living Americans carry the first name Detric. It is a predominantly male name (98.8% of registrations). The average person named Detric today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Detric births was 1977 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Detric. 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
412
~ 1 in 831,928 Americans
Peak year
1977
20 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2018 SSA rank
#7,004
Tracked since 1964
Census
Detric in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 374 people with the first name Detric, which placed it at #25,370 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
#25,370
National first-name rank
People counted
374
374 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
84.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Detric
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Detric is Black at 84.0%. The next largest groups are White (6.7%) and Two or More Races (6.1%). 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 Detric 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 Detric at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American84.0% · 314
- White6.7% · 25
- Two or more races6.1% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Detric
Detric leans heavily male at 98.8% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Detric as a male name
- Ranked #11,109 in 2018
- 6 male births in 2018
- Peak: 1977 (20 births)
Detric as a female name
- Ranked #7,004 in 1964
- 5 female births in 1964
- Peak: 1964 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Detric leans strongly male. 343 people counted with this name were male (89.6%), compared with 40 female bearers (10.4%).
Popularity
Detric: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Detric from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 131 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Detric 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 Detric during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Detrics live
Origin
Meaning and history of Detric
The name Detric has its roots in the Germanic languages, originating from the Old Norse word "dettr," which means "diminutive" or "small." It is believed to have been formed as a diminutive of a longer name, possibly derived from names like Dietrich or Theodoric, which were popular among the ancient Germanic tribes.
The earliest recorded use of the name Detric can be traced back to the 8th century, when it appeared in various medieval manuscripts and records from the Frankish Empire and the Germanic regions of Europe. During this time period, the name was often spelled as "Deitric" or "Dettric," reflecting the linguistic evolution of the Germanic languages.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Detric was a Frankish nobleman who lived in the late 8th century. He was a member of the court of Charlemagne, the renowned Frankish king and the first ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. This association with the Carolingian dynasty may have contributed to the name's popularity among the nobility and upper classes of medieval Europe.
In the 11th century, a Benedictine monk named Detric of Reichenau was known for his scholarly works and his contributions to the field of music theory. He was a prominent figure in the monastic community of Reichenau Abbey, located in present-day Germany, and his writings on musical notation and theory were influential in the development of Western music.
During the 12th century, a Danish nobleman named Detric of Bülow was a prominent figure in the court of King Valdemar I of Denmark. He played a significant role in the conquest of the island of Rügen and the subjugation of the Slavic tribes in the region, which helped establish Danish control over the Baltic Sea.
In the 14th century, a German artist named Detric Bauden was renowned for his intricate wood carvings and sculptures, which adorned many churches and cathedrals in the regions of modern-day Germany and Austria. His works were heavily influenced by the Gothic style and featured intricate religious imagery and ornate architectural details.
Another notable figure with the name Detric was a 16th-century Italian humanist scholar named Detric Piscina. He was a professor of rhetoric and philosophy at the University of Padua and was known for his translations of ancient Greek texts and his commentaries on the works of Aristotle and Cicero.
While the name Detric may have fallen out of widespread use in recent times, its historical significance and connection to the Germanic cultures of medieval Europe make it a unique and intriguing name with a rich heritage.
People
Detric + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Detric 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
Detric: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Detric?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 412 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Detric 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 831,928 US residents.
Is Detric a common name?
We classify Detric as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 431 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Detric most popular?
The single biggest year for Detric was 1977, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Detric is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Detric in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 374 people with the name Detric, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,370 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 Detric 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 Detric?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Detric leans strongly male. 343 people counted with this name were male (89.6%), compared with 40 female bearers (10.4%). 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 Detric?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Detric is Black at 84.0%. The next largest groups are White (6.7%) and Two or More Races (6.1%). 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 Detric most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Detric in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.0% (314 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 Detric in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Detric a male name?
Yes, 98.8% of people registered as Detric 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 Detric still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Detric 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 Detric 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 common is the name Detric?
See how many people share the name Detric on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.