Dereke
A masculine name of Old English origin meaning "ruler of the people".
Name Census estimates that about 189 living Americans carry the first name Dereke. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dereke today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dereke births was 1972 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dereke. 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
189
~ 1 in 1,813,515 Americans
Peak year
1972
14 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
2000 SSA rank
#10,798
Tracked since 1955
Popularity
Dereke: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dereke from the 1950s through to the 2000s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 68 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
Dereke 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 Dereke during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dereke
The name Dereke has its origins in the Old English language, emerging during the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, which lasted from the 5th to the 11th century. It is derived from the Old English words "deor," meaning "beloved" or "precious," and "ric," meaning "ruler" or "powerful." Together, these elements form the composite name Dereke, suggesting a meaning along the lines of "precious ruler" or "beloved leader."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dereke can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This ancient record mentions a landowner named Dereke le Baillif, indicating the name's usage in Norman England.
In the 12th century, a notable figure bearing the name Dereke was Dereke de Ivri, a Norman nobleman and vassal of King Henry II of England. Dereke de Ivri held significant land holdings in Hampshire and played a role in the governance of the region during the latter half of the 12th century.
The name Dereke also appears in the historical records of Scotland, where it was borne by Dereke de Strathechin, a prominent landowner and nobleman who lived in the 13th century. Dereke de Strathechin was a vassal of the Scottish king and held lands in the region of Angus.
In the realm of literature, the name Dereke is mentioned in the 14th-century Middle English poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." In this famous Arthurian romance, Dereke is portrayed as a courtly knight in the service of King Arthur.
Another notable bearer of the name was Dereke Chaucer, the son of the renowned English poet Geoffrey Chaucer. Dereke Chaucer lived in the late 14th and early 15th centuries and served as a member of the English Parliament and a diplomat for the Crown.
While the name Dereke has its roots in Old English and was prevalent in medieval Britain, it fell out of widespread use in later centuries. However, variations and derivatives of the name, such as Derek and Derrick, have continued to be used, carrying on the legacy of this ancient moniker.
People
Dereke + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dereke 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
Dereke: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dereke?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 189 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dereke 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 1,813,515 US residents.
Is Dereke a common name?
We classify Dereke as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 207 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dereke most popular?
The single biggest year for Dereke was 1972, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dereke is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Dereke a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dereke 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.
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.