first name
DEREK
of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census
Of the 201,259 people named Derek, 71.2% reported their origin as White, 10.4% as Hispanic or Latino and 9.7% as Black. Virtually all are male (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.
What should your name go on next?
Thanks! We'll make the most-wanted one next.
Derek peaked in 1989, when 8,402 babies got the name.
At least 239,969 babies have been given the name since 1924. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.
Derek by decade
Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1980s, when it ranked #93. The largest share of babies named Derek, 44.5%, were born between 1981 and 1996, as millennials.
Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.
Where Derek is most common
Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Derek has been most common in Hawaii (2.1×), Alaska (2×), and New Hampshire (1.9×), and least common in South Carolina (0.5×).
237,609 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.
Either side of Derek
Spelled almost the same
8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Derek, most common first.
Also a last name
As a last name, Derek ranks #83,373 of 156,621, with 243 people. See Derek as a last name
Compare
🔎 DEREK 🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 1 in 1,501 Americans More common than 52.7% of us Peaked in 1989 with 8,402 babies Beat that 👇 https://howrareismy.name/first/derek/