Deirdre (given name)

Deirdre
Deirdre and Naoise, an illustration from A Book of Myths by Helen Stratton.
Pronunciation/ˈdɪərdrə/ DEER-drə
Irish: [ˈdʲɛɾˠdʲɾʲə]
GenderFemale
Language(s)Celtic languages
Other names
Related namesDeidra, Deidre, Deitra, Derdriu

Deirdre is a feminine given name of Celtic origin and of unknown meaning. Deirdre is the name of a tragic heroine of Irish mythology. More attention was drawn to the name during the early 20th Century in Ireland and throughout the Anglosphere after W. B. Yeats published his poem Deirdre in 1907 and playwright J.M. Synge published his play Deirdre of the Sorrows in 1910. There are a number of spelling variants and pronunciations of the name in use.[1]

Usage

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Deirdre was among the 100 most popular names in use for girls in Ireland between 1964 and 1997, and was a top 10 name for Irish girls between 1966 and 1979. The name was among the 1,000 most popular names in use for girls in the United States between 1944 and 1990. It was at its most popular between 1960 and 1972, when it was among the top 500 names for American girls. It reached peak popularity in 1961, when it was the 333rd most popular name for girls.[2]

People

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Fictional characters

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). Oxford Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press. p. 72. ISBN 0-19-861060-2.
  2. ^ Campbell, Mike. "Deirdre". behindthename.com. Behind the Name. Retrieved 24 December 2023.