Deirdre
Feminine
Deirdre is the heroine of the oldest tragedy in Irish — a woman whose beauty was prophesied to bring ruin before she was born, and who lived out the prophecy exactly.
How old is the name Deirdre?
Deirdre first appears in US birth records in 1921 — 104 years ago. The typical Deirdre alive today was born around 1969, making them about 56 years old. About 15,000 people named Deirdre are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Deirdre most popular?
Deirdre peaked in 1961, reaching #333 nationally. Today it ranks #7885, 7,552 places below that high. See the whole 1961 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Derdriu to Deirdre
The story of Deirdre
Deirdre of the Sorrows belongs to the Ulster Cycle: a druid foretells at her birth that she will bring destruction, King Conchobar has her raised in isolation to marry him, she elopes with Naoise, and the story ends in betrayal and death. The tale was retold by Yeats, Synge and others, and American use peaked around 1968.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
The origin is genuinely unrecovered. Proposals connect it to an Old Irish word for 'sorrowful' or to derdriu, sometimes read as 'she who murmurs' or as a chatterer. None is established. The name is attested only in the literature, which makes the etymology hard to test.
How the name formed
- Derdriu
- Deirdre
Related forms: Deirdre · Deidre · Dearduil
Pronouncing Deirdre
DEER-druh
Two syllables, stress on the first. Some bearers say DEER-dree with a fuller final vowel, and both are established.
Nicknames for Deirdre
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
- 1921
- Most girls named
- 1963678 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #333reached in 1961
- Change vs 2023
- −27.8%13 in 2025, from 18
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.
Deirdre in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Deirdre in Irish — same name
- Deidre in English — spelling variant
- Dearduil in Scottish — related form
Deirdres among us
people named Deirdre are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 123,636 born in 2025 was named Deirdre
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Tommie test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Deirdre's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Tommie climbed just as high around 1937, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Tommie's path sketches the road Deirdre is walking now.
Deirdre sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Deirdre beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Deirdre in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One of the great tragic figures of European literature carries it.
- It is unmistakably Irish without being difficult to say.
- Dee is a ready-made short form with its own record.
- The meaning is genuinely unrecovered, and honest sources say so.
- The final vowel splits between two readings, and the spelling is often reversed to Deidre.
- The story attached to it is a tragedy.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Deirdre to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Deirdre? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Deirdre
Feminine · #7885 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Deirdres are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 15,000 people named Deirdre are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Deirdre in 2025?
- Deirdre ranks #7885 among US girl names in 2025, with 13 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Deirdre?
- About 1 in every 123,636 US girls born in 2025 was named Deirdre — 13 in all.
- Will my child share the name Deirdre with classmates?
- Deirdre will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Deirdre
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ola#7885 · Loula#7885 · Consuelo#7885 · Santa#7885 · Florentina#7885 · Marty#7885 · Jaye#7885 · Dollie#7885
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Deirdre? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Deirdre and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle