ninan.org

Richard

Boys' name · Mid-century perennial

Living in the US
~1,505,400 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#234 among boys
Births in 2025
1,505 2,587,082 since 1880
Typical age
63 years, median

Richard popularity over time

Richard rank by birth year, 1880–2025Richard ranked #23 in 1880 and #234 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #5, in 1930.#10#100#234best #5 in 193018901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

1946 is the peak year for Richard, with 58,990 births. It appears in the very first year SSA covers, 1880. It has held a top-100 place in 127 separate years.

In 2025 it ranked #234 with 1,505 births. The ten-year change is -44%.

Babies named Richard per yearPeaks at 58,990 births in 1946.58,990 in 1946018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Richard?

Roughly 1,505,400 Richards are alive in the US right now. SSA has recorded 2,587,082 births under the name since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Richard?

The typical living Richard is 63 years old. Most living bearers were born in the 1950s. By the site’s era rules that makes Richard a mid-century perennial name.

Your Richard

Ages of living people named RichardHalf of living Richards are older than 63 and half younger.median 63020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Richard is most common

Alaska uses the name 2.5× as often as the country as a whole. Delaware, Rhode Island and New Mexico follow.

Where Richard is used more than average5 states use the name Richard more than the national average.Alaska: 2.5× the national rateAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: 2.1× the national rateRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: 2.2× the national rateDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: 1.9× the national rateNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: 1.7× the national rateDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Richard is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Alaska 64 2.5×
Delaware 67 2.2×
Rhode Island 71 2.1×
New Mexico 128 1.9×
District of Columbia 60 1.7×

Richard in England and Wales

In England and Wales, Richard ranked #431 in 2025 on 92 births. That is 28% lower than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Richard comes from

From Middle English Rycharde, from Old French Richard, from Medieval Latin Richardus,Ricohardus, from Frankish *Rīkahard, from Proto-Germanic *Rīkaharduz, a construction. Cognate with Old High German Rīcohard (“Richard”). Partially related to rich.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Richard

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Richard Wagner German composer 1813–1883 205
Richard Nixon president of the United States from 1969 to 1974 1913–1994 189
Richard Feynman American theoretical physicist 1918–1988 157
Richard Stallman American software freedom activist, short story writer and computer programmer, founder of the GNU project 1953 140
Richard Dawkins English ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author 1941 136
Richard I of England King of England from 1189 to 1199 1157–1199 112
Richard Strauss German composer and orchestra director 1864–1949 91
Richard Burton Welsh actor 1925–1984 89
Photo credits (8)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 2,041 in 1911 to 4,211 in 1912 — 2.1 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/richard.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).