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Dyke
How to Pronounce Dyke
Pronounced DYKE /ˈdaɪk/Medium
Meaning: Dyke began as an English topographic surname for a person who lived beside a dic, an Old English word for a ditch, dyke or drainage bank; the same source gave the surname Van Dyke. As a first name it is the surname used directly, carrying the sense 'dweller by the dyke.'Low
Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data
U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.
SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.
History & Origin
Dyke is an English surname pressed into service as a first name. It comes from Old English dic, 'ditch, dyke or bank,' a plain landscape word that marked where an ancestor lived, and it belongs to the old habit of turning surnames into given names.
It was never common as a first name, given to only about fifteen boys a year even at its peak in the mid-nineteen-fifties, and it had faded by the nineteen-seventies. A boy named Dyke then is in his late sixties or seventies today.
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Frequently Asked
What does the name Dyke mean?
It is an English surname meaning 'dweller by the dyke or ditch,' from Old English dic, occasionally used as a boy's first name.
How do you pronounce Dyke?
It is said DYKE /ˈdaɪk/ - one syllable.
Is Dyke a boy or girl name?
Dyke is used as a boy's name.
How popular is Dyke?
It was always rare in the United States, given to only about fifteen boys a year even at its peak in the nineteen-fifties.