2000
#12,084
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,369
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.88
Rare Last name
Dedrick
A patronymic surname derived from the Germanic personal name Theodric, meaning "ruler of the people."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,507 Americans carry the last name Dedrick. That puts it at #13,339 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.73 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 136,719 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Dedrick surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
2.5K
1 in 136,719
Census rank
#13,339
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,186 bearers of the surname Dedrick in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.73 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13339th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Dedrick, the largest self-reported group is White at 74.8%. The next largest groups are Black (14.9%) and Two or More Races (5.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Dedrick
The surname Dedrick is of German origin, derived from the personal name Theodoric, which itself comes from the Germanic elements "theud" meaning "people" and "ric" meaning "ruler" or "power". It is believed to have originated in the 7th or 8th century in the regions of modern-day Germany.
The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in medieval German documents, where it appeared in various spellings such as Theodoric, Theodericus, and Diedrich. One notable example is the Benedictine monk Theodoric of St. Trond, who lived in the 11th century and served as the abbot of St. Trond Abbey in present-day Belgium.
As the name Theodoric evolved over time, it gave rise to numerous variations, including Dedrick, Dederick, and Diedrich. These variants were particularly common in the regions of Westphalia and Rhineland in Germany, where the name was often associated with noble families and landowners.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Dedrick was Hans Dedrick, a German merchant who lived in the 15th century and is mentioned in the records of the Hanseatic League, a powerful commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Northern Europe.
Another notable bearer of the name was Johann Dedrick, a German scholar and theologian who lived in the 16th century and was known for his work on church history and biblical exegesis.
In the 17th century, the name gained prominence with Wilhelm Dedrick, a German military officer who fought in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) and was renowned for his bravery and strategic skills.
As the name spread across Europe, it also found its way to the British Isles, where it was sometimes anglicized to Dedrick or Dedridge. One such example is John Dedridge, an English nobleman and landowner who lived in the 18th century and owned estates in Gloucestershire.
In the 19th century, the name was carried to the United States by German immigrants, where it continued to thrive and evolve. One notable American bearer of the name was William Dedrick, a politician and lawyer from Ohio who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives in the late 19th century.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dedrick
Among Census respondents with the surname Dedrick, the largest self-reported group is White at 74.8%. The next largest groups are Black (14.9%) and Two or More Races (5.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Dedrick bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Dedrick surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.8% · 1,636
- Black or African American14.9% · 325
- Two or more races5.2% · 114
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 77
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 30
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Dedrick
Dedrick appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#12,897
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,384
+15 bearers (+0.6%)
Per 100,000 0.81
Rank movement Down 813 places
2020
#13,339
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,186
-198 bearers (-8.3%)
Per 100,000 0.73
Rank movement Down 442 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #12,084 | 2,369 | 0.88 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #12,897 | 2,384 | 0.81 | +15 bearers (+0.6%) | Down 813 places |
| 2020 | #13,339 | 2,186 | 0.73 | -198 bearers (-8.3%) | Down 442 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Dedrick surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #12,897 | #13,339 | -3.4% |
| Count | 2,384 | 2,186 | -8.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.81 | 0.73 | -9.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Dedrick bearers went from 2,384 to 2,186 (-8.3% change). The surname moved down 442 positions in the national ranking, going from #12,897 to #13,339.
FAQ
Dedrick surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Dedrick?
Name Census estimates that about 2,507 living Americans carry the surname Dedrick. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 136,719 residents.
How common is Dedrick?
Dedrick ranks #13,339 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.73 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,186 people with the surname Dedrick. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,507), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.73 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.73 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Dedrick.
Has Dedrick become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Dedrick went from 2,384 recorded bearers to 2,186. That is a decrease of 198 (-8.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #12,897 to #13,339.
What does the Census say about the background of Dedrick?
Among Census respondents with the surname Dedrick, the largest self-reported group is White at 74.8%. The next largest groups are Black (14.9%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Dedrick in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.8% (1,636 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Dedrick appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (74.8%), Black (14.9%), Two or More Races (5.2%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Dedrick (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Dedrick mean?
A patronymic surname derived from the Germanic personal name Theodric, meaning "ruler of the people." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Dedrick (0.73 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Dedrick?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.