Derrel
A masculine English name derived from the French surname Darrelle.
Name Census estimates that about 771 living Americans carry the first name Derrel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Derrel today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Derrel births was 1988 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Derrel. 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
771
~ 1 in 444,558 Americans
Peak year
1988
25 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
2017 SSA rank
#12,749
Tracked since 1916
Census
Derrel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 755 people with the first name Derrel, which placed it at #15,282 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
#15,282
National first-name rank
People counted
755
755 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Derrel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Derrel is White at 58.8%. The next largest groups are Black (35.1%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Derrel 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 Derrel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.8% · 444
- Black or African American35.1% · 265
- Two or more races3.0% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino1.2% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 5
Popularity
Derrel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Derrel from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 192 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Derrel 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 Derrel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Derrels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, California, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Derrel, while New York, Oklahoma, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 26 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Derrel
The given name Derrel is a unique and relatively uncommon name with a rich history. Its origins can be traced back to the Middle English language, specifically the Old French name "Derrie" or "Derrey," which was derived from the Latin word "deritus," meaning "of the skin" or "relating to the skin."
In the early medieval period, the name was likely used as a descriptive surname or occupational name for individuals who worked with animal hides or leather goods. Over time, it evolved into a given name, though its precise route from occupation to personal name is not entirely clear.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Derrel can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The book mentions a landowner named Derrel de Ferriers, who held estates in Berkshire.
Throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance period, the name Derrel remained relatively obscure but was occasionally used by families of modest means across various regions of England and parts of France. Notable individuals bearing this name include Derrel of Arundel, a 13th-century English monk and chronicler, and Derrel Vaudreuil, a 16th-century French explorer and trader who established settlements in present-day Quebec, Canada.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the name gained some popularity among Puritan families in New England, who were known for their preference for unique and often biblical-sounding names. One notable figure from this era was Derrel Mather, a Puritan minister and author born in 1663 in Dorchester, Massachusetts.
Moving into the 19th century, the name Derrel remained relatively uncommon but was occasionally used in various parts of the English-speaking world. One notable bearer of the name was Derrel Pardridge, an English botanist and horticulturist born in 1818, who was instrumental in introducing numerous exotic plant species to Europe.
In the 20th century, the name Derrel experienced a slight resurgence, though it remained far from mainstream popularity. One of the most well-known individuals with this name was Derrel Seckinger, an American businessman and philanthropist born in 1914, who founded the Seckinger Foundation and was a major supporter of educational initiatives in his home state of Georgia.
People
Derrel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Derrel 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
Derrel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Derrel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 771 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Derrel 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 444,558 US residents.
Is Derrel a common name?
We classify Derrel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,181 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Derrel most popular?
The single biggest year for Derrel was 1988, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Derrel is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Derrel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 755 people with the name Derrel, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,282 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 Derrel 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 Derrel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Derrel leans strongly male. 740 people counted with this name were male (98.1%), compared with 14 female bearers (1.9%). 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 Derrel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Derrel is White at 58.8%. The next largest groups are Black (35.1%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Derrel most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Derrel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.8% (444 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 Derrel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Derrel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Derrel 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 Derrel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Derrel 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 Derrel 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 Derrel as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.