Deirdra
Feminine
Deirdra ends in an a because English expects a woman's name to. The Irish name ends in an e that is not silent and not stressed, which English readers find uncomfortable; swapping it for an a produces a shape the language recognizes and moves the name a little further from where it came from.
How old is the name Deirdra?
Deirdra first appears in US birth records in 1944 — 81 years ago. The typical Deirdra alive today was born around 1971, making them about 54 years old. About 1,100 people named Deirdra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Deirdra most popular?
Deirdra peaked in 1961, reaching #1499 nationally. See the whole 1961 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Derdriu to Deirdra
The story of Deirdra
The story turns on a guarantee that was broken. Deirdre and the man she leaves with escape to Scotland; the king who wanted her sends word that they may return safely and appoints three of his most respected men as sureties for the promise, which in Irish law was the strongest security available. They come back. The promise is broken and her companion and his brothers are killed. One of the guarantors, whose honor has been destroyed along with the pledge he stood for, burns the king's hall, kills his son, and takes himself and three thousand men into exile with the king's enemies for sixteen years. The tragedy is not about a love affair; it is about what happens when a society's binding word is treated as negotiable.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The Irish name has no agreed meaning. Proposals include a word for sorrow, a word for a chatterer and a word for a woman, and none has been established; the name appears in the literature before it appears in any record of an actual person, which is unusual and part of the difficulty.
How the name formed
- Derdriu
- Deirdre
- Deirdra
Related forms: Deirdre
Pronouncing Deirdra
DEER-druh
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The Irish name ends in a light e that is genuinely sounded, giving a slightly different rhythm; this spelling replaces it with an a and produces the shape English is used to.
Nicknames for Deirdra
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1944
- Most girls named
- 196156 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1499reached in 1961
- Change vs 2003
- 0.0%6 in 2005, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Deirdra in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Deirdre in Irish — same name
Deirdras among us
people named Deirdra are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Deirdra sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The ending is one English readers can handle, which the standard spelling is not.
- The name has a documented literary history running back a thousand years.
- Short, firm and easy to say once the first vowel is settled.
- Deirdre is the standard spelling everywhere and this will be corrected.
- The first syllable is spelled in a way that gives English readers trouble either way.
- The story attached to the name is a tragedy, and everybody who knows it will say so.
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Deirdra
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Deirdras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,100 people named Deirdra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Deirdra in 2025?
- Deirdra is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Deirdra with classmates?
- Deirdra will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More D names
The most-given names starting with D, all years combined.
Dorothy#421 · Donna#1962 · Deborah#862 · Debra#4460 · Diane#2607 · Doris#2895 · Denise#1673 · Danielle#549
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Deirdra? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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