Didier
A French masculine name from the Germanic name Desiderius meaning "longed for" or "desired".
Name Census estimates that about 976 living Americans carry the first name Didier. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Didier today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Didier births was 2009 (51 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Didier. 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
976
~ 1 in 351,183 Americans
Peak year
2009
51 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,333
Tracked since 1960
Popularity
Didier: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Didier from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 347 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Didier remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Didier 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 Didier during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Didiers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Didier, while Florida, New York, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 68 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Didier
The name Didier has its origins in the Germanic languages, deriving from the Old High German name Deoderic, which itself comes from the elements "theud" (people) and "ric" (ruler or power). This formulation likely emerged during the early medieval period, as Germanic tribes migrated and settled across Western Europe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the 7th century, when a Didier was the Duke of Alemannia from around 639-679 AD. This Didier played a significant role in the politics and military campaigns of the Merovingian Franks during this turbulent era.
In later centuries, the name appears to have been particularly popular in parts of modern-day France and Belgium. A notable bearer was Didier de Cahors, a 12th century crusader and knight who fought in the Third Crusade alongside Richard the Lionheart.
During the Renaissance, Didier Erasmus (1466-1536) was one of the most influential scholars and philosophers of his time, renowned for his satires and translations of classical texts. His works questioning Church practices helped pave the way for the Protestant Reformation.
Another important figure was Didier Diderot (1713-1784), the French philosopher and playwright who served as the chief editor of the famous Encyclopédie, one of the principal works of the Enlightenment era. His writings explored themes of human nature, morality, and reason.
In more recent history, Didier Ratsiraka (1936-2022) was the President of Madagascar from 1975 to 1993, and again from 1997 to 2002, playing a key role in the island nation's post-colonial politics over several decades.
People
Didier + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Didier 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
Didier: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Didier?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 976 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Didier 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 351,183 US residents.
Is Didier a common name?
We classify Didier as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 996 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Didier most popular?
The single biggest year for Didier was 2009, when 51 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Didier is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Didier a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Didier 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.