Derek is a masculine given name. It is the English language short form of Diederik, the Low Franconian form of the name Theodoric. Theodoric is an old Germanic name with an original meaning of "people-ruler".

Common variants of the name are Derrek, Derick, Derik, Dereck, Derrick, and Deric. Low German and Dutch short forms of Diederik are Dik, Dirck, and Dirk.

History

The English form of the name arises in the 15th century, via import from the Low Countries. The native English (Anglo-Saxon) form of the name was Deoric or Deodric, from Old English Þēodrīc, but this name had fallen out of use in the medieval period. During the Late Middle Ages, there was intense contact between the territories adjacent to the North Sea, in particular due to the activities of the Hanseatic League. As a result, there was a lot of cross-pollination between Low German, Dutch, English, Danish and Norwegian. The given name Derk is found in records of the Low Countries from the early 14th century, and in the spelling Derck becomes rather common in name lists compiled in the Habsburg Netherlands during the early 16th century.^[1] An early bearer of the name Derek was lord of Keppel, Gelderland, in the early 14th century. A Derek van Keppel, lord of Verwoelde, died in 1495 and was succeeded by his eldest son, also called Derek van Keppel. A later Derek van Keppel died in 1646, succeeded by Asewolt van Keppel, the father of Arnold van Keppel, who in 1688 was created Earl of Albemarle in the Peerage of England.^[2]

Given name

Arts and entertainment

A–M

N–Z

Sports

A–M

N–Z

Business

• Derek Burney Jr. (born 1962), Canadian corporate senior executive
• Derek Lambie (born 1975), Scottish newspaper editor
• Derek V. Smith, American business executive

Politics

Science, education and academics

Writing

Miscellaneous

• Derek Bentley (1933–1953), Englishman hanged for murder and subsequently pardoned
• Derek Chauvin (born 1976), American former police officer convicted in the murder of George Floyd
• Derek Anthony Seagrim (1903–1943), English soldier and recipient of the Victoria Cross
• Derek Watson (priest) (born 1938), British retired churchman, former Dean of Salisbury in the Church of England
• Derek Wood (c. 1964 – 1988), one of two British soldiers killed in the 1988 Corporals killings incident
• Derek (horse) (born 1978), a Brazilian thoroughbred racehorse

Spelling variants

Derrek

• Derrek Konrad (born 1943), Canadian politician
• Derrek Lee (born 1975), American former baseball player
• Derrek Pitts Jr. (born 1998), American football player
• Derrek Tuszka (born 1997), American football player

Derrick

• Derrick (name)

Derick

• Derick (name)

Derik

• Derik Hultquist, American singer-songwriter
• Derik Lacerda (born 1999), Brazilian footballer
• Derik Osede (born 1993), Spanish footballer
• Derik Pretorius (born 1998), South African rugby union player
• Derik Queen (born 2004), American basketball player
• Derik Steiner (born 1987), American former football player

Deryck

• Deryck Guyler (1914–1999), English actor
• Deryck Whibley (born 1980), Canadian singer-songwriter

Fictional characters

Popularity

Since 1940, the peak of the popularity of the name Derek in the United States was in the 1980s.

Rank 1 is the most popular, rank 2 is the next most popular, and so forth.

^ Rank > 1000

Source: Social Security Administration.^[3]