Derek

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. 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 made Earl of Albemarle in the Peerage of England.

Given name "Derek"

Arts and entertainment

Derek Acorah (1950–2020), British TV personality

Derek Almstead (born 1974), musician/engineer

Derek and the Dominos (active 1970–1971), blues-rock group

Derek Andersen, one half of the DJ duo SLANDER

Derek Bailey (guitarist) (1930–2005), jazz guitarist

Derek Barbosa (born 1971), a.k.a. Chino XL, American rapper

Derek Batey (1928–2013), British TV presenter

Derek Bell (musician) (1935–2002), Irish harpist and composer

Derek Benfield (1926–2009), British actor and playwright

Derek Bermel (born 1967), American composer, clarinetist and conductor

Derek Michael Besant (born 1950), Canadian artist

Derek Bloom (born 1983), drummer of From First to Last

Derek Bogaerde, birth name of Dirk Bogarde (1921–1999), British actor of Dutch/Scottish ancestry

Derek Boland (1965-2009), a.k.a. Derek B, British DJ and rapper

Derek Bond (1920–2006), actor, director and playwright

Derek Boshier (born 1937), British pop artist

Derek Bourgeois (1941–2017), English composer

Sports

Derek Abney (born 1980), American football wide receiver

Derek Anderson (American football) (born 1983), National Football League quarterback

Derek Anderson (basketball) (born 1974), American basketball player

Derek Armstrong (ice hockey) (born 1973), Canadian hockey player

Derek Asamoah (born 1981), Ghanaian footballer playing in Korea

Derek Barnett (born 1996), American football player

Derek Bell (auto racer) (born 1941), British F1 racing car driver

Derek Bell (baseball) (born 1968), American former Major League Baseball player

Derek Bell (footballer, born 1956), English football player

Derek Bell (footballer, born 1963), English football player

Derek Bellotti (born 1946), English football player

Derek Boateng (born 1983), Ghanaian footballer

Derek Boogaard (1982–2011), Canadian ice hockey player

Derek Bryant (boxer) (born 1971), American heavyweight boxer

Derek Campbell (born 1980), Canadian ice hockey player

Derek Campos (born 1988), American mixed martial artist

Business

Derek Burney Jr. (born 1962), Canadian corporate senior executive

Derek Lambie (born 1975), Scottish newspaper editor

Derek V. Smith, American business executive

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

Derik

Derik John Baker (born January 31, 1990), known as Virginia To Vegas,

Derik Hultquist, American singer-songwriter

Derik Lacerda (born 1999), Brazilian footballer

Derik Lynch, Australian artist and performer

Derik Osede (born 1993), Spanish footballer, known as Derik

Derik Queen (born 2004), American basketball player

Derik Steiner (born 1987), American former football player

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

Deryck

Deryck Guyler (1914–1999), English actor

Deryck Whibley (born 1980), Canadian singer-songwriter

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.