Ricky

What Ricky means

Diminutive of Richard, meaning “king, ruler + hard, brave”

diminutive of the male given name Richard || 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, “Ricky” (revision 93143469) and “Richard” (revision 94542998), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Ricky?

US: Falling: down from #582 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #807 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1958, when 13,375 boys got the name (#34 that year). First in the US records in 1925.

How common

• About 1 in 6,887 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 24,721 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 6,547 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 NM (0.92 per 1,000 boys), GA (0.28 per 1,000 boys), CA (0.26 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Ricky is #948 in the US and #2133 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 94.3% of US babies named Ricky 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

• Rocky520 US · 74 E&W
• Rico89 US · 69 E&W
• Rickey45 US
• Rocko17 US
• Riku13 US
• Riko0 US · 4 E&W

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

If you like Ricky

Boys

• Christopher#68“carrier of Christ”^*
• David#35“beloved”^*
• Steven#271“crown, wreath”^*
• Daniel#22“God is my judge”^*
• Kenneth#294“handsome”^*
• Eric#273Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1970, with 23,571 babies; 1,256 in 2025

For a sister

• Elizabeth#17“my God is an oath”^*
• Katherine#186Variant of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”^*
• Samantha#151“listener”^*
• Ashley#164“ash tree + wood, clearing”^*
• Andrea#235Feminine form of Andreas, meaning “manly”^*
• Sarah#90“masters, princes”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Ricky’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.