Drake
Meaning
from a surname, from the Old Norse byname Draki or Old English Draca, 'dragon'; also the word for a male duck
The story
Drake comes from an English surname built on the Old Norse byname Draki or the Old English byname Draca, both meaning "dragon", both carried via Latin from the Greek drakon, "dragon, serpent", says Behind the Name, which adds two footnotes: the name coincides with the unrelated English word for a male duck, and its famous bearer is the Canadian actor and rapper Drake, born Aubrey Drake Graham in 1986. The record's climb started while that bearer was still a boy: about 1,200 boys in the 1980s, about 7,400 in the 1990s, about 13,500 in the 2000s, about 10,500 in the 2010s, and about 2,600 so far this decade. A dragon by way of three languages, a duck by pure coincidence, and an American run that was already at full speed before the charts weighed in.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Drake peaked in the 2000s and the 2010s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
45 people · the #71,575 first name in Brazil · median age 4
The census also counted 22 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Drake
Most people given the name Drake in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Drake deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Drake truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Drake fits with your family’s names and surname.
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