Derrich
Of German origin meaning "ruler's guardian".
Name Census estimates that about 59 living Americans carry the first name Derrich. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Derrich today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Derrich births was 1973 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Derrich. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Derrich. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
59
~ 1 in 5,809,396 Americans
Peak year
1973
10 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
1990 SSA rank
#5,979
Tracked since 1961
Popularity
Derrich: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Derrich from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 41 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
Derrich 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 Derrich 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 Derrich
The given name Derrich is believed to have its origins in the Germanic languages, specifically derived from the Old German name Theodric or Theodoric. This name is a compound of two elements: "theud" meaning "people" and "ric" meaning "ruler" or "powerful." Consequently, the name Derrich can be interpreted as "ruler of the people" or "powerful among the people."
In the early Middle Ages, the name Theodric or Theodoric was prevalent among the Germanic tribes, particularly the Ostrogoths and Visigoths. It gained significant prominence during the reign of Theodoric the Great, the Ostrogothic king who ruled over the Italian Peninsula from 493 to 526 AD. He was a prominent figure in the transition period between ancient Rome and the emerging medieval kingdoms.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Derrich can be found in the Nibelungenlied, a famous German epic poem from around the 13th century. In this work, Dietrich von Bern (Derrich of Bern) is a prominent character, a powerful hero who aids the Burgundians against the Huns.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Derrich or its variants. For example, Theodoric I (454-526 AD) was the king of the Ostrogoths who ruled the Italian Peninsula after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Another notable figure was Dietrich of Bern (also known as Theodoric the Great), who was a legendary figure in Germanic heroic poetry from the 6th century AD.
In the 9th century, Derrich III (also known as Theodoric III or Theoderic III) was the king of the Franks from 679 to 691 AD. He played a crucial role in the consolidation of Frankish power and the expansion of the Frankish kingdom.
During the 12th century, Dietrich von Apolda (also known as Theodoric of Appoldia) was a prominent German theologian and philosopher who made significant contributions to the development of scholastic thought.
In more recent times, Derrich von Baeyer (1854-1912) was a German chemist who made important contributions to the understanding of organic chemistry and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1905 for his discovery of the Baeyer strain theory.
People
Derrich + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Derrich 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
Derrich: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Derrich?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 59 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Derrich 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 5,809,396 US residents.
Is Derrich a common name?
We classify Derrich as "Very Rare". It ranks above 56.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 64 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Derrich most popular?
The single biggest year for Derrich was 1973, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Derrich is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Derrich in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Derrich a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Derrich 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 Derrich still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Derrich 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 Derrich 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people share the name Derrich?
You can see how many Americans are named Derrich on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.