Fun Facts About the Name Derringer
- 58 babies named Derringer: U.S. records list 58 babies given the name Derringer from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Derringer Mean?
Derringer is a surname of German origin that is also used occasionally as a given name in English-speaking countries. Its literal meaning is uncertain. The name is a variant of Deringer and carries the German suffix -inger, which normally marks a person as belonging to a particular place or family. One common explanation treats it as a habitational name for someone from a settlement whose name shares the same root. Another traces it to the personal name Döring, a short form of Dietrich (from the Germanic elements theud, "people," and ric, "ruler" or "power"), which would make it a patronymic meaning "descendant of Döring." A further suggestion connects the root to Middle High German Düring, "a Thuringian." These explanations are not mutually exclusive in surname studies, and no single one has been confirmed as the source of the family name.
Derringer Name History & Origins
Forms such as Deringer and Döringer appear as family names in German-speaking regions, and the spelling Derringer is found in the English-speaking world. The name is best known through Henry Deringer, a Philadelphia gunmaker whose small pocket pistol was widely copied in the mid-nineteenth century. Rivals and customers frequently wrote the name with a doubled r, and that spelling, derringer, became the standard word for a small concealable handgun, so the double-r form is the one most people recognize today. The firearm did not create the surname, but it fixed the doubled spelling in English.
Derringer as a first name is uncommon and follows the English custom of using surnames as given names, a pattern more widespread in the United States than in Britain. The German surname it comes from has its own long history, but the given name rests on that family name rather than on an older personal-name tradition.
How Popular is the Name Derringer?
Derringer has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2017. Its best rank was #7,705 in 2017.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #12,499 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2022 | #12,802 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2020 | #9,819 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2018 | #9,921 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2017 | #7,705 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2015 | #8,943 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2014 | #12,533 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2013 | #12,607 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2010 | #11,085 | 6 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Derringer Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You are strong in material matters, determined and stubborn. You have good business ability. You are a good worker, steady and practical, a builder who takes responsibility well. These qualities may bring you a position of authority and power. You are a doer, down-to-earth, serious-minded, reliable, and self-disciplined; have good power of concentration. You have an eventful, exciting life. You are versatile and have the ability to learn easily.
Position and social status is very important for you and you are always looking for way to improve your position in society. You have power and ability to chose your own destiny and achieve anything you want in life. You can expand in any direction according to your will and the set of values. You have passion for justice and belong to the position of authority. You have an inherent courage and endurance to accomplish "The Impossible Dream". With the power comes responsibility. You hold keys to the material world, but with this gift comes high spiritual responsibility to be fair and true to others. You are philosophical and mature, determined and intense with a desire to endure, often religious.
✦ Derringer's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Derringer's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.