Deru last name popularity, history, and meaning

Find out how popular the last name Deru is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Deru.

Meaning of Deru

A French surname derived from the Old French word "deru" meaning "broken or torn down."

Deru, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Deru surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Deru in America

Deru is the 118853rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Deru surname appeared 146 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Deru.

We can also compare 2010 data for Deru to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 118853 144908 -19.76%
Count 146 105 32.67%
Proportion per 100k 0.05 0.04 22.22%

The history of the last name Deru

The surname DERU has its origins in the Basque region of northern Spain and southwestern France, dating back to the medieval period around the 11th century. It is believed to be derived from the Basque word "deru," which means "to call" or "to summon." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to a person who served as a messenger or town crier.

One of the earliest known references to the surname DERU can be found in the Cartulary of the Monastery of San Millan de la Cogolla, a medieval manuscript from the 11th century. This document mentions a landowner named Sancho Deru who owned property in the village of Zamora.

In the 13th century, there are records of a nobleman named Pedro Deru who was a knight in the service of King Alfonso X of Castile. He is mentioned in several chronicles of the time as participating in military campaigns against the Moors.

During the 15th century, the surname DERU can be found in the archives of the city of Pamplona, where a family of that name held prominent positions in the local government. One notable figure was Juan Deru (1430-1498), who served as the mayor of Pamplona from 1475 to 1480.

In the 16th century, the DERU surname spread beyond the Basque region as a result of migration and trade. One notable bearer of the name was Martín Deru (1520-1589), a merchant from San Sebastián who established trade routes with the Americas and became quite wealthy.

Another notable figure was Miguel Deru (1550-1618), a Basque sailor who accompanied the explorer Juan de Fuca on his expeditions to the Pacific Northwest in the late 16th century. He is credited with being one of the first Europeans to explore the region that is now the state of Washington.

As the DERU surname spread throughout Spain and beyond, it underwent various spelling variations, such as Derue, Deruy, and Dereux, particularly in French-speaking regions. However, the original Basque spelling of DERU remained the most common form.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Deru

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Deru.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

  1. White only
  2. Black only
  3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
  4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
  5. Hispanic
  6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Deru was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 87.67% 128
Non-Hispanic Black Only 8.22% 12
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races (S)% (S)
Hispanic Origin 0.00% 0

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Deru has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 87.67% 91.43% -4.20%
Black 8.22% 6.67% 20.82%
Asian and Pacific Islander (S)% (S)% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% 0.00% (S)%
Two or More Races (S)% 0.00% (S)%
Hispanic 0.00% (S)% (S)%

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Deru was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Deru, please contact us.

Reference this page

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If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"Deru last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on July 3, 2025. http://namecensus.com/last-names/deru-surname-popularity/.

"Deru last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/deru-surname-popularity/. Accessed 3 July, 2025

Deru last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/deru-surname-popularity/.

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