Derek
Derek is ranked 258th among boys in 2024 (1,355 births). Its best rank was 50th, in 1980, 1982.
- Rank in 2024
- #258up 13 from 2023
- Births in 2024
- 1,3550.08% of boys
- Peak year
- 19898,365 births
- Best rank
- #50first in 1980
- Since 1924
- 237,860people given the name
The story in the numbers
237,860 boys have been named Derek in the United States since 1924, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1989, with 8,365 births — 0.42% of all boys recorded that year.
It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 205 → 258).
Half of everyone given the name was born by 1987, and the 1980s alone account for 31%. It has spent 81 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 26 of them in the top 100.
Rank among boys, year by year
By decade
| Decade | boys named Derek | |
|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 12 | |
| 1930s | 155 | |
| 1940s | 533 | |
| 1950s | 5,246 | |
| 1960s | 19,020 | |
| 1970s | 38,314 | |
| 1980s | 72,927 | |
| 1990s | 50,753 | |
| 2000s | 27,021 | |
| 2010s | 17,972 | |
| 2020s | 5,907 |
In 1989, its biggest year
Derek was the 54th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1989 were Michael, Christopher, Matthew, Joshua and David. See all of 1989.
Names that rose and fell with Derek
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Derikpeak 1987
- Derreckpeak 1990
- Matthewpeak 1983
- Frantzpeak 1988
- Derrekpeak 1989
- Derickpeak 1989
- Rodriquezpeak 1992
- Geraldopeak 1988
Other spellings in the data
What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.