Drake is an English surname with two sources: the Old English draca, "dragon" or "snake", used as a nickname for a fierce man, and the word for a "male duck". Sir Francis Drake, the Elizabethan sea captain, and the Canadian rapper Drake are its best-known bearers. Drake ranked number 261 in 2000, peaked at number 196 in 2010, the year of the rapper's debut album, and has since fallen to number 827 in 2025.