Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Derek?
Births per year, rank history and how many Dereks are alive today.
Derek (male), once a common boys' name, is now rarely given to new babies in England and Wales: just 15 in 2025, ranked 1705th. This spelling of the name peaked in 1934, when around 4,400 babies were given the name, the 14th most popular that year. It has declined since 1934; the 2025 figure is roughly 1% of its peak. At least 130,000 babies have been named Derek in England and Wales since 1924. Figures before 1996 are estimates. Derek is one spelling of a name also recorded as Derrick; the combined figures below cover every spelling.
Across all spellings of the name, the Derek you are most likely to meet is around 63 years old. Half of all Dereks born in England and Wales are between 61 and 82, and there are at least 79,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 males, there's roughly a 23% chance that at least one of them will be called Derek.
How many babies are named Derek each year?
Includes all spellings: Derek, Derrick. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
Where does the Derek spelling rank?
Where does the Derrick spelling rank?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Derek most popular?
Derek peaked in 1934, when around 4,400 babies in England and Wales were given the name across all spellings.
How many people are called Derek?
At least 79,000 people named Derek in any spelling born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Derek?
Most living Dereks are between 61 and 82; the most common age is about 63.
Is Derek becoming more or less popular?
Well past its peak: today's figures are a fraction of the 1934 peak, though numbers have levelled off in recent years.