Given name · also Gaelic
Dermot
“a free man”
Dermot is used as a given name. One Irish interpretation is “a free man.” Its derivation is not certain.
Original IrishDiarmaid
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Irish interpretation is “a free man.” Its derivation is not certain.
Where it comes from
A possible origin is Irish, although the derivation remains uncertain.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1917. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Dermot through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 482
- 482 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1969
- 16 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 8 in 2022. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 16 in 1969. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 851 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Dermot’s family of names
In English usage, Dermot shares an earlier linguistic root with Jeremy. Dermot has a related form in Dermott. Dermot shares a linguistic root with Dermid.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 5
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 8
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 3
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Dermot
- Dermot MulroneyAmerican actorborn 1963
- Dermot KennedyIrish singer-songwriterborn 1991
- Dermot MorganIrish actor (1952–1998)
- Dermot FarrellMetropolitan Archbishop of Dublinborn 1954
- Dermot CrowleyIrish actorborn 1947
- Dermot AhernIrish politicianborn 1955
- Dermot HealyIrish writer (1947-2014)
- Dermot GallagherEnglish football refereeborn 1957
- Dermot RyanIrish bishop (1924-1985)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Dermot, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Daron
“the great one” · “from a small rocky hill”
>99% boys
Donnell
“ruler of the world; a brown-haired warrior”
>99% boys
Duffy
“descendant of Dubhthach” · “son of Duibhshíth”
98% boys · 2% girls
Bryon
Bryon is a masculine given name from Irish.
>99% boys
Darren
“a great man” · “a gift from God”
>99% boys
Mckeever
McKeever is a surname from Irish.
>99% boys
Robbins
Robbins is a surname from Robin.
>99% boys
Clavin
“son of Flaithimhín”
>99% boys