Deirdre is a feminine given name of Celtic origin and of unknown meaning. Deirdre is the name of a tragic heroine of Irish mythology. More attention was drawn to the name during the early 20th century in Ireland and throughout the Anglosphere after W. B. Yeats published his poem Deirdre in 1907 and playwright J.M. Synge published his play Deirdre of the Sorrows in 1910. There are a number of spelling variants and pronunciations of the name in use.
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Usage
Deirdre was among the 100 most popular names in use for girls in Ireland between 1964 and 1997, and was a top 10 name for Irish girls between 1966 and 1979.
The name was among the 1,000 most popular names in use for girls in the United States between 1944 and 1990. It was at its most popular between 1960 and 1972, when it was among the top 500 names for American girls. It reached peak popularity in 1961, when it was the 333rd most popular name for girls.
People
Dede Alpert (born 1945), American politician
Deirdre Bair (1935–2020), American literary scholar and biographer
Deirdre Barrett, American author and psychologist
Dede Barry (born 1972), American cycle racer
Deirdre Sullivan Beeman, American artist
Deirdre Beddoe (born 1942), British historian
Deirdre Blomfield-Brown, birth name of Pema Chödrön (born 1936), American Tibetan Buddhist nun
Deirdre Bolger (born 1938), Irish former politician
Deirdre Bolton, American journalist
Deirdre Borlase (1925–2018), British painter and printmaker
Deirdre Breakenridge (born 1966), American author and businesswoman
Deirdre Brennan (born 1934), Irish bilingual poet, playwright, and short story writer who writes both in the Irish language and in English
Deirdre Byrne (born 1982), Irish middle- and long-distance runner
Deirdre Cartwright (born 1958), British guitarist and composer
Deirdre Caruana (born 1972), Maltese former sprinter and Olympian
Deirdre Cash (1924–1963), Australian novelist and torch singer, who wrote under the pseudonym Criena Rohan
Deirdre Clancy (born 1943), British costume designer
Deirdre Clune (born 1959), Irish politician
Deirdre Codd (born 1986), Irish camogie player
Deirdre Connelly (born 1961), Puerto Rican business executive, particularly with pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline
Deirdre Costello, Irish former camogie player
Deirdre Costigan, British politician
Deirdre Crampton (born 1976), Canadian sailor and Olympian
Deirdre Curtin (born 1960), Irish legal scholar
Deirdre M. Daly (born 1959), American attorney who served as the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut from 2013 to 2017
Deirdre Davis (born 1963), Scottish actress
Déirdre de Búrca (born 1963), Irish politician
Deirdre Donnelly, Irish actress
Deirdre Duke (born 1992), Irish women's field hockey player
Deirdre English (born 1948), American former editor of Mother Jones and author
Deirdre FitzGerald (born 1936), Australian lawyer
Deirdre Flint, American satirical folk-rock singer-songwriter
Deirdre Fraser, Australian former world champion lightweight rower
Deirdre Gallagher (born 1974), Irish retired race walker and Olympian
Deirdre Gogarty (born 1969), Irish boxing coach and retired boxer
Deirdre Gribbin (born 1967), Northern Irish composer
Deirdre Griswold, American communist political activist
Deirdre Grusovin (born Brereton; born 1938), Australian politician
Deirdre Hanford, American executive in the electronic design automation industry
Deirdre Hargey, Irish Sinn Féin politician, Minister for Communities within the Northern Ireland Executive, and former Lord Mayor of Belfast
Deirdre Hart, New Zealand geographer and academic
Deirdre Hart-Davis (1909–1998), English socialite, gallery owner and model
Deirdre Heddon (born 1969), British academic
Deirdre Heenan, Irish academic
Deirdre Henty-Creer (1918–2012), Australian painter who spent most of her career in Great Britain
Deirdre Hine (born 1937), Welsh doctor
Deirdre Hughes, Irish former camogie player
Deirdre Hutton (born 1949), British public servant
Deirdre Hyde (born 1953), British artist
Deirdre Imus, American artist, author, health advocate and radio personality
Dee D. Jackson (born 1954), English singer and musician
Deirdre Jordan (1926–2026), Australian academic and educator
Deirdre Kelly (born 1971), British TV personality and actress
Deirdre Kelly (academic), Irish clinician, academic, and author
Deirdre Kelly (campaigner) (1938–2000), Irish environmental and community activist
Deirdre Kinahan (born 1968), Irish playwright and theater producer
Deirdre Eberly Lashgari (1941–2014), American English literature educator, editor, and translator
Deirdre Le Faye (1933–2020), English writer and literary critic
Deirdre Lovejoy (born 1962), American actress
Deirdre Macnab (born 1955), American activist and sustainable agriculture rancher
Deirdre Madden (born 1960), Irish novelist
Deirdre McCloskey (born 1942), American economist and philosopher born Donald McCloskey
Deirdre McKay (born 1972), Northern Irish composer
Deirdre Milne (née Boye; born 1939), New Zealand retired lawyer and feminist activist
Deirdre Mullins, 21st-century Irish actress, director, and activist
Deirdre Murphy (cyclist) (1959–2014), American road cyclist
Deirdre Murphy (judge) (born 1953), Irish retired judge
Deirdre O'Brien born c. 1966), American businesswoman
Deirdre O'Connell (1939–2001), Irish-American actress, singer, and theater director based in Dublin
Deirdre O'Connell (actress), American actress
Deirdre O'Connor (1941–2024), Australian lawyer, academic, and former judge of the Federal Court
Deirdre O'Connor (architect) (1951–1999), Irish architect
Deirdre O'Donoghue (1948–2001), American disc jockey
Deirdre O'Kane (born 1968), Irish stand-up comedian and actress
Deirdre Osborne, Australian-born academic based in the United Kingdom
Deirdre Purcell (1945–2023), Irish author, actress, and journalist
Deirdre Quinn (born 1973), American model and actress
Deirdre Quinn (entrepreneur), American businesswoman
Deirdre Shannon, stage name of Irish singer Deirdre Gilsenan (born 1974)
Deirdre Sheehan (born 1957), Irish former swimmer and Olympian
Deirdre Shoemaker (born 1971), American astrophysicist
Deirdre Smeltzer (born 1964), American mathematician, mathematics educator, textbook author, and academic administrator
Deirdre Sullivan, 21st-century Irish children's writer and poet
Deirdre Sutton, Irish former camogie player
Deirdre Tarrant (born 1946), New Zealand dancer, dance teacher and choreographer
Deirdre Walsh, American business executive and former government employee
Deirdre Wilson (born 1941), British linguist and cognitive scientist
Deirdre Wolhuter, Canadian-born South African actress
Fictional characters
Deirdre Barlow, in the British soap opera Coronation Street
Deirdre Beaubeirdre, in Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
Deirdre Hortense (Dodie) Bishop, in the American animated TV series As Told by Ginger (2000–2004)
Deirdre (Halloween), from the 1979 novelization Halloween by Curtis Richards