boy's name
Richard
RITCH-erd
- Origin Germanic
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 7
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 2,708,357
the United States
#234
2025 births
Richard is a boy's name from Germanic roots meaning strong or brave ruler. With 2,699,993 recorded births it is the most-used name on this site that had no page until now, and it still ranks 234th in the United States and 242nd in Ireland.
- Richard is a name of Germanic origin.
- Peaked in 1946, when 58,990 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 2,203 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Richard over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 7,038 |
| 1890s | 7,616 |
| 1900s | 10,734 |
| 1910s | 74,952 |
| 1920s | 223,759 |
| 1930s | 331,782 |
| 1940s | 478,652 |
| 1950s | 536,610 |
| 1960s | 375,372 |
| 1970s | 204,081 |
| 1980s | 155,875 |
| 1990s | 95,174 |
| 2000s | 48,681 |
| 2010s | 26,757 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 9,999 |
What Richard means
Richard means strong ruler, or brave in rule. It joins a Germanic word for power or rule to one meaning hard, firm or brave, so the sense is authority exercised with force rather than authority merely held.
Where Richard comes from
Richard is the Old Frankish Ricohard, from ric — power, rule, the same element in Roderick, Frederick and the German Reich — joined to hard, meaning hard, firm or brave. The Normans carried it to England in 1066 and it became one of the small set of names that dominated English naming for the next five centuries. Three kings bore it, and the reputations could hardly differ more: Richard I, the Lionheart, spent perhaps six months of a ten-year reign in England; Richard III has been argued over since 1485 and had his remains identified under a Leicester car park in 2012. The pet form Dick, standard since the thirteenth century when rhyming substitutions gave Rick a variant, has largely fallen out of use for reasons that need no explaining.
Richard in use
Richard peaked in the United States in 1946, when 58,990 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 234th in the United States on 1,505 births, 242nd in Ireland, 431st in England and Wales, 701st in Scotland and 1224th in France — five of the six markets we track. Its 2,699,993 lifetime births are the largest total of any name on this site, and it is holding marginally better in Ireland than in the country where it peaked.
How popular is Richard?
In 2025, Richard was given to 1,505 babies in the United States, ranking #234 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Richard is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Richard
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Richard also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Richard over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
7 nicknames for Richard
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Richard in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Richard
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Richard — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Richard
What does the name Richard mean?
Strong ruler, or brave in rule — the Germanic ric, power, joined to hard, brave.
Why is Dick short for Richard?
Richard gave Rick, and medieval English rhyming substitution turned Rick into Dick, the same process that made Bob from Rob and Bill from Will.
How popular is Richard?
234th in the United States and 242nd in Ireland, down from a 1946 peak of 58,990 American births.
Is Richard a royal name?
Yes — three English kings, including Richard the Lionheart and Richard III, whose remains were found under a Leicester car park in 2012.
Is Richard a girl's or a boy's name?
Richard is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Richard?
Richard has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Richard?
Richard is usually shortened to Rick, Richie, Dick, Ricky, Rico and Rich.
Is Richard a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Richard currently ranks #234 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.