Humanverse

Derek vs Derwin

American parents have registered 239,969 Dereks since 1880, against 3,833 Derwins. Derek is still ahead, with 1,191 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Derek against Derwin, 1880 to 2025 0 2.5k 5k 7.5k 10k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Derek Derwin

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Of the 108 years in which either name was published, Derek for 95 years and Derwin for 13 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.

Side by side

  Derek Derwin
Total US births 239,9693,833
Most in one year 8,402140
Babies in 2025 1,19116
Estimated living today 224,0003,100
Median age today 3754
Peak year 19891958
Best rank 54th boys649th boys
Rank in 2025 284th5,608th
First recorded 19241916
Girls / boys 909 / 239,0600 / 3,833

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Derwins alive today are over 54; half the Dereks are over 37. That is 17 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Derek and Derwin.