Derricka
Feminine form of Derrick, a name of English origin meaning "ruler of the people".
Name Census estimates that about 882 living Americans carry the first name Derricka. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Derricka today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Derricka births was 2000 (52 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Derricka. 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
882
~ 1 in 388,610 Americans
Peak year
2000
52 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2022 SSA rank
#15,909
Tracked since 1970
Census
Derricka in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 704 people with the first name Derricka, which placed it at #16,121 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
#16,121
National first-name rank
People counted
704
704 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
87.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Derricka
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Derricka is Black at 87.6%. The next largest groups are White (4.8%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Derricka 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 Derricka at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American87.6% · 617
- White4.8% · 34
- Two or more races4.5% · 32
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 3
Popularity
Derricka: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Derricka from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 403 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Derricka 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 Derricka during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Derrickas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Florida, Michigan, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Derricka, while Texas, Ohio, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Derricka
The name Derricka originates from the Old English word "deor", which means "beloved" or "dear". It is believed to have emerged during the Anglo-Saxon period in England, around the 5th to 11th centuries AD. The name was initially a masculine form, but over time, it evolved into a feminine name.
Derricka shares its roots with other names like Derek and Derrick, which also stem from the Old English word "deor". These names were commonly used among the Anglo-Saxon population and were often given to children as a way of expressing affection and endearment.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Derricka can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings and population in England, commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name is mentioned as "Derica", referring to a female landowner in the county of Berkshire.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Derricka. In the 12th century, Derricka of Warwick was a respected noblewoman known for her philanthropic work and patronage of the arts. She was instrumental in the construction of several churches and monasteries in the region.
During the Renaissance period, Derricka Boccaccio (1425-1489) was an Italian painter and sculptor whose work was heavily influenced by the classical styles of ancient Greece and Rome. Her most famous works include the frescoes adorning the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence.
In the 19th century, Derricka Nightingale (1820-1910) was a pioneering figure in the field of nursing. She is celebrated for her efforts to improve sanitary conditions in hospitals during the Crimean War and her contributions to the establishment of modern nursing practices.
Another notable figure was Derricka Curie (1867-1934), a Polish physicist and chemist who made groundbreaking discoveries in the field of radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the first person to win the Nobel Prize twice.
More recently, Derricka Markova (1910-2004) was a celebrated Russian prima ballerina who performed with the Bolshoi Ballet and the Royal Ballet in London. She was widely acclaimed for her technical precision and artistic expression, and is considered one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century.
While the name Derricka has its origins in Old English, it has transcended cultural boundaries and has been adopted by various communities around the world, each with their own unique interpretations and meanings attached to the name.
People
Derricka + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Derricka 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
Derricka: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Derricka?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 882 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Derricka 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 388,610 US residents.
Is Derricka a common name?
We classify Derricka as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 909 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Derricka most popular?
The single biggest year for Derricka was 2000, when 52 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Derricka is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Derricka in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 704 people with the name Derricka, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,121 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 Derricka 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 Derricka?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Derricka leans strongly female. 697 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 8 male bearers (1.1%). 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 Derricka?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Derricka is Black at 87.6%. The next largest groups are White (4.8%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Derricka most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Derricka in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.6% (617 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 Derricka in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Derricka a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Derricka in the SSA data are female. 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 Derricka still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Derricka 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 Derricka 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 the name Derricka?
Find out how many Americans are named Derricka on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.