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Derrell

#8,418 in 2025Boys' name

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Derrell has been given to 5,880 babies in the U.S. since 1909. In 2025 it ranked #8,418 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1987, with 136 recorded.

Babies named Derrell, 2025

1 in 368,000

Derrell over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Derrell: meaning, origin, and history

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Derrell means

Derrell is a given name.

The naming story behind Derrell

Wikidata records Derrell as a given name. The entity identifier is Q5262951, and the classification was checked on 2026-10-20. The spelling matches a source label or alias exactly, without removing accents or linking it to a name merely because the letters look similar.

A database classification is different from an etymological explanation, so those questions remain open in the short meaning.

A modern root explanation needs an additional naming or linguistic reference.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 5,864 boys were recorded with the name Derrell between 1909 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 136 in 1987; its best national rank was #779 in 1958.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #5,512 in 2020 to #8,418 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #4,583 in 2015 to #8,418 in 2025.

In the United States, 16 girls were recorded with the name Derrell between 1956 and 1963. Its highest annual count was 6 in 1956; its best national rank was #5,445 in 1956.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Derrell?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 368,000
9 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 190,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#8,418
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
255,323 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Derrell sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 255,323 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Derrell. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Derrells were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Derrell was born before 1975 — so the typical Derrell is around 50 today.

Median birth year
1975
About 50 years old
Biggest decade
1980s
17.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
12.8%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
4,693
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1980s — 17.3% of all recorded uses (1,017).

Is Derrell rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+1,724
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−2,906
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−3,835
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.43×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
6.6%
Peak was 1987 (136)
Years since peak
38
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
24.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#779
1958

Spellings of Derrell

Derrell is not the most common spelling — Darrell is, with 46.1% against Derrell's 1.7%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Derrell is used

Across 1910–2025, Derrell was most concentrated in Georgia — about 1 in 14,286 boys, against 1 in 49,779 across all states with data. It was least common in Pennsylvania (1 in —).

07 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Georgia1 in 14,286
  2. 2Maryland1 in 20,000
  3. 3Texas1 in 25,000
  4. 4Alabama1 in 33,333
  5. 5District of Columbia1 in 33,333
  6. 6Florida1 in 33,333
  7. 7Oklahoma1 in 33,333
  8. 8South Carolina1 in 33,333

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Derrell has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Derrell around the world

Where Derrell ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1997–2005
    #3,849
    in 2005
  • South Australia
    1945–1945
    #261
    in 1945

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Derrell by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#8,418
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 2,906
Best rank ever
#779
1958
Peak year
1987
136 that year
First recorded
1909
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
5,864
Count in 2025
9

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#5,445
1956
Peak year
1956
6 that year
First recorded
1956
Last recorded
1963
All-time count
16
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Derrell

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

DerellDereckDerwinDerrionDerrekMarcellKendellJerrellMarkellCarnellDeronDerikJarrellLatrellDericRandellCordellPernellCornellWindellDerriusDerickRondellMartell

Names with a curve like Derrell

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Derrell, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

ArnulfoAlfonzoRosendoRojelioDonellErasmoMariaEloyCarnellArnoldoReymundoEdmundo

Sibling names for Derrell

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Derrell

Top names of 1987, Derrell's peak yearThe 1980s in fullOther names that peaked in 1958Boys' names starting with D