Derek


Derek is a masculine given name. It is the English language short form of Diederik, the Low Franconian form of the name Theodoric. Theodoric is an old Germanic name with an original meaning of "people-ruler" or "lead the people".
Common variants of the name are Derrek, Derik, Deryck, as well as Derrick and Derick.

History

The English form of the name arises in the 15th century, via import from the Low Countries. The native English form of the name was Deoric or Deodric, from Old English Þēodrīc, but this name had fallen out of use in the medieval period. During the Late Middle Ages, there was intense contact between the territories adjacent to the North Sea, in particular due to the activities of the Hanseatic League. As a result, there was a lot of cross-pollination between Low German, Dutch, English, Danish and Norwegian. The given name Derk is found in records of the Low Countries from the early 14th century, and in the spelling Derck becomes rather common in name lists compiled in the Habsburg Netherlands during the early 16th century. An early bearer of the name Derek was lord of Keppel, Gelderland, in the early 14th century. A Derek van Keppel, lord of Verwoelde, died in 1495 and was succeeded by his eldest son, also called Derek van Keppel. A later Derek van Keppel died in 1646, succeeded by Asewolt van Keppel, the father of Arnold van Keppel, who in 1688 was made Earl of Albemarle in the Peerage of England.

Given name "Derek"

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Spelling variants

Derik

Derrek

Deryck

Popularity

Since 1940, the peak of the popularity of the name Derek in the United States was in the 1980s.
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2010s170181182
2000s121132139149156172159142159168
1990s545962677783101106110114
1980s50535051525657545354
1970s77636769748384827572
1960s247205187177172166141123122109
1950s470407363378362331300283256254
1940s714953^956891862641

Rank 1 is the most popular, rank 2 is the next most popular, and so forth.
^ Rank > 1000
Source: Social Security Administration.