Derry
Derry was last recorded in 2016, when 6 babies were given it; 1,678 Americans have been recorded with it between 1914 and 2016 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,100 Americans named Derry and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (66% of everyone recorded); the median is 61 years old and half are between 44 and 70.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Derry by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Derry mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Derry is “a male given name.” Its etymology gives the senses “oak grove” (doire) and “oak forest” (daire).
From Irish Doire, from doire (“oak grove”), from Old Irish daire (“oak forest”), from Proto-Celtic *daru.
/ˈdɛɹi/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Derry?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #11,061, in 2016; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
55 babies in 1957, the peak
Derry peaked in 1957, when 55 babies were given it (50 boys, #1,075 among boys’ names). It was not recorded in 2025.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 6 | #11,061 | 3.2 |
| 2015 | 7 | #9,804 | 3.7 |
| 2014 | 6 | #11,060 | 3.1 |
| 2007 | 11 | #7,213 | 5.3 |
| 2006 | 9 | #8,165 | 4.4 |
| 2005 | 7 | #9,363 | 3.5 |
| 2004 | 5 | #11,796 | 2.5 |
| 2003 | 11 | #6,352 | 5.6 |
| 2002 | 6 | #9,671 | 3.1 |
| 2001 | 5 | #10,987 | 2.6 |
Every recorded year (93)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 9 | #6,968 | 4.6 |
| 1999 | 6 | #8,985 | 3.1 |
| 1998 | 8 | #7,013 | 4.2 |
| 1997 | 6 | #8,400 | 3.2 |
| 1996 | 18 | #3,708 | 9.5 |
| 1995 | 12 | #4,867 | 6.3 |
| 1994 | 11 | #5,178 | 5.7 |
| 1993 | 11 | #5,087 | 5.6 |
| 1992 | 5 | #8,731 | 2.5 |
| 1991 | 13 | #4,281 | 6.4 |
| 1990 | 12 | #4,461 | 5.8 |
| 1989 | 11 | #4,585 | 5.5 |
| 1988 | 11 | #4,240 | 5.7 |
| 1987 | 9 | #4,644 | 4.8 |
| 1986 | 12 | #3,694 | 6.5 |
| 1985 | 23 | #2,308 | 12.4 |
| 1984 | 12 | #3,511 | 6.6 |
| 1983 | 16 | #2,819 | 8.9 |
| 1982 | 12 | #3,532 | 6.6 |
| 1981 | 9 | #4,237 | 5.0 |
| 1980 | 16 | #2,857 | 9.0 |
| 1979 | 14 | #3,047 | 8.1 |
| 1978 | 11 | #3,453 | 6.7 |
| 1977 | 13 | #3,076 | 7.9 |
| 1976 | 19 | #2,354 | 12.1 |
| 1975 | 17 | #2,466 | 10.9 |
| 1974 | 19 | #2,210 | 12.1 |
| 1973 | 20 | #2,063 | 12.8 |
| 1972 | 22 | #1,940 | 13.6 |
| 1971 | 22 | #1,935 | 12.4 |
| 1970 | 30 | #1,551 | 16.1 |
| 1969 | 14 | #2,337 | 7.8 |
| 1968 | 13 | #2,353 | 7.5 |
| 1967 | 28 | #1,452 | 16.1 |
| 1966 | 21 | #1,692 | 11.8 |
| 1965 | 26 | #1,529 | 14.0 |
| 1964 | 36 | #1,317 | 18.1 |
| 1963 | 28 | #1,490 | 13.8 |
| 1962 | 24 | #1,633 | 11.6 |
| 1961 | 36 | #1,327 | 16.9 |
| 1960 | 35 | #1,345 | 16.4 |
| 1959 | 34 | #1,341 | 15.9 |
| 1958 | 43 | #1,174 | 20.3 |
| 1957 | 50 | #1,075 | 23.2 |
| 1956 | 25 | #1,575 | 11.8 |
| 1955 | 29 | #1,426 | 14.1 |
| 1954 | 26 | #1,504 | 12.8 |
| 1953 | 40 | #1,172 | 20.3 |
| 1952 | 27 | #1,464 | 13.9 |
| 1951 | 34 | #1,262 | 18.1 |
| 1950 | 27 | #1,402 | 15.1 |
| 1949 | 27 | #1,411 | 15.2 |
| 1948 | 25 | #1,466 | 14.2 |
| 1947 | 21 | #1,663 | 11.5 |
| 1946 | 21 | #1,565 | 12.9 |
| 1945 | 22 | #1,419 | 16.3 |
| 1944 | 18 | #1,644 | 13.2 |
| 1943 | 18 | #1,716 | 12.6 |
| 1942 | 14 | #1,972 | 10.1 |
| 1941 | 21 | #1,497 | 17.1 |
| 1940 | 14 | #1,917 | 12.1 |
| 1939 | 15 | #1,815 | 13.6 |
| 1938 | 11 | #2,221 | 9.9 |
| 1937 | 23 | #1,416 | 21.6 |
| 1936 | 20 | #1,515 | 19.3 |
| 1935 | 12 | #2,158 | 11.5 |
| 1934 | 27 | #1,297 | 26.1 |
| 1933 | 14 | #1,925 | 14.1 |
| 1932 | 14 | #2,023 | 13.4 |
| 1931 | 9 | #2,701 | 8.7 |
| 1930 | 10 | #2,642 | 9.1 |
| 1929 | 11 | #2,473 | 10.2 |
| 1928 | 7 | #3,436 | 6.3 |
| 1927 | 6 | #3,875 | 5.3 |
| 1926 | 8 | #3,198 | 7.2 |
| 1925 | 7 | #3,491 | 6.3 |
| 1924 | 10 | #2,858 | 8.8 |
| 1923 | 5 | #4,380 | 4.6 |
| 1922 | 6 | #3,958 | 5.5 |
| 1920 | 7 | #3,565 | 6.6 |
| 1917 | 7 | #3,303 | 7.6 |
| 1915 | 7 | #3,156 | 8.2 |
| 1914 | 6 | #2,995 | 9.2 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Derry a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 1,678 Americans recorded as Derry, 8% are girls and 92% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Derry: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Derry, and how old are they?
1,100 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 66% of the 1,678 Americans ever recorded as Derry. The median Derry alive today is 61 years old; half are between 44 and 70.
The 2020 Census counted 1,184 people named Derry (195 women and girls, 989 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,229 born in the U.S. The Census count is 4% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 71 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 468 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 278 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 187 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 81 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 19 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Names spelled alike
Of these 5 names spelled alike, given to 2,607 babies since 1880, Derry is the most given (64% of them).
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Derry
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Derry and names like it
- Compare Derry and DreyBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sDerry peaked in 1957.
- Georgia’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Derry since 1910.
- The top names of 1957The year the most babies were named Derry.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Derry alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with DMost given first.