Richard

What Richard means

Means “king, ruler + hard, brave”

From Middle English Rycharde, from Old French Richard, from Medieval Latin Richardus, Ricohardus, from Frankish *Rīkahard, from Proto-Germanic *Rīkaharduz, a construction of *rīks (“king, ruler”) +‎ *harduz (“hard, brave”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Richard” (revision 94542998), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Richard?

US: Falling: down from #155 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #256 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1946, when 58,870 boys got the name (#5 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 1,135 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 2,956 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 3,928 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in VT (7.43 per 1,000 boys), DC (3.96 per 1,000 boys), DE (3.39 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Richard is #234 in the US and #431 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Richard were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Rashard10 US
• Reshard6 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Nicknames

• Dick
• Dickey
• Dickie
• Dicky
• Hick
• Rich
• Richie
• Richy
• Rick
• Rickey
• Ricki
• Ricky

Listed on Wiktionary under “diminutives”.

If you like Richard

Boys

• Robert#92“shining glory”^*
• Jeffrey#552Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #552 vs #1,705 in 2025
• Raymond#394“advice + protection”^*
• Frank#513Form of Francis, meaning “Frankish (man); a Frank”^*
• Ronald#637“advice + power”^*
• Eric#273Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1970, with 23,571 babies; 1,256 in 2025

For a sister

• Linda#902“tender, soft”^*
• Alicia#460Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1984, with 7,820 babies; 672 in 2025
• Alison#476“of noble kind”^*
• Anne#619Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1959, with 5,745 babies; 472 in 2025
• Allison#103Form of Elon, meaning “oak tree”^*
• Alyssa#453“a plant of the genus Alyssum”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Germanic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Richard’s. Rank is US 2025.