Derek

Where Derek comes from

Borrowed in the Middle Ages from a Middle Low German variant of Theodoric, and revived in the 19th century.
— Wiktionary's entry for Derek
  • Germanic
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1918
    Derek Barton born
    English organic chemist
  2. 1924
    First appearance
    #3,867 among boys, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  3. 1930
    Derek Walcott born
    Saint Lucian–Trinidadian poet and playwright
  4. 1980
    Peak, #50
    7,240 babies named Derek — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1998
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #110.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from the Germanic languages.
Namesakes
  • Derek Walcott · Saint Lucian–Trinidadian poet and playwright, 1930–2017
  • Derek Barton · English organic chemist, 1918–1998
  • Derek Jacobi · English actor, born 1938
  • Derek Boateng · Ghanaian footballer, born 1983
  • Derek Jeter · American former professional baseball player, author, bussinessman and baseball broadcasters, born 1974

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.