Dirk
A masculine given name of Frisian origin meaning "leader of the people".
Name Census estimates that about 9,224 living Americans carry the first name Dirk. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dirk today is around 54 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dirk births was 1954 (438 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dirk. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Dirk with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
9.2K
~ 1 in 37,159 Americans
Peak year
1954
438 babies that year
Average age
54
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,912
Tracked since 1918
Census
Dirk in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 10,024 people with the first name Dirk, which placed it at #2,461 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
#2,461
National first-name rank
People counted
10K
10,024 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dirk
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dirk is White at 87.6%. The next largest groups are Black (5.6%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Dirk 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 Dirk at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.6% · 8,786
- Black or African American5.6% · 561
- Two or more races3.4% · 337
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 205
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 82
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 53
Popularity
Dirk: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dirk from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 3,310 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dirk 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 Dirk during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dirks live
The SSA's state-level files cover 40 states and territories. California, Illinois, Ohio recorded the most babies named Dirk, while Wyoming, West Virginia, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 179 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dirk
The given name Dirk has its origins in the Low German language and dates back to medieval times. It is derived from the Old Saxon word "deriker" or "deriker," which means "leader of the people" or "powerful ruler." This name was common among the Germanic tribes that settled in parts of modern-day Germany and the Netherlands.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Dirk can be found in the 9th century, when it was mentioned in the Vita Liudgeri, a biography of the Saxon saint Liudger. During this period, the name was particularly popular among the Frisians, a Germanic people who lived in the coastal regions of the Netherlands and northwestern Germany.
In the Middle Ages, the name Dirk gained prominence across Europe, with several notable historical figures bearing this name. One of the most famous was Dirk I, Count of Holland, who ruled from 922 to 928 CE and played a significant role in the formation of the County of Holland.
Another notable figure was Dirk II, Count of Holland, who ruled from 939 to 988 CE and was instrumental in establishing the dominance of the House of Holland in the region. During his reign, he expanded the county's territory and strengthened its position among the neighboring states.
In the 13th century, Dirk van Aarschot (c. 1220-1292) was a prominent Flemish nobleman and military leader who served as the Lord of Aarschot and played a significant role in the conflicts between the County of Flanders and the Duchy of Brabant.
In the realm of literature, the name Dirk is associated with the character Dirk Hartog, a Dutch explorer who became the first European to land on the western coast of the Australian continent in 1616. His name was immortalized when he left an inscription on an island off the coast, now known as Dirk Hartog Island.
Another notable figure was Dirk Willoughby (1598-1669), an English soldier and Parliamentarian leader during the English Civil War. He served as a colonel in the Parliamentary army and played a significant role in the Battle of Wigan Lane in 1651.
Throughout history, the name Dirk has maintained its popularity, particularly in the Netherlands, Germany, and other parts of northern Europe. It has been carried by various individuals from different walks of life, including rulers, noblemen, military leaders, explorers, and literary figures, reflecting its deep-rooted cultural significance and enduring appeal.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Dirk
People
Dirk + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dirk 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
Dirk: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dirk?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9,224 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dirk 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 37,159 US residents.
Is Dirk a common name?
We classify Dirk as "Rare". It ranks above 97.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,935 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dirk most popular?
The single biggest year for Dirk was 1954, when 438 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dirk is about 54 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dirk in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 10,024 people with the name Dirk, or 3.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,461 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 Dirk 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 Dirk?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dirk appears almost entirely male. Of the 10,024 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Dirk?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dirk is White at 87.6%. The next largest groups are Black (5.6%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Dirk most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Dirk in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.6% (8,786 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 Dirk in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dirk a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dirk 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 Dirk still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dirk 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 Dirk 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 Americans are named Dirk?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.