boy's name
Rick
RIK
- Origin English
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 1
- Letters 4
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 82,676
Ireland
#768
2007 births
Rick means brave ruler, shortened from Richard — and the medieval habit of rhyming pet names is why Rick also produced Dick, which is the same name with a different first letter. It peaked in 1958, and holds 82,219 lifetime births.
- Rick is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1958, when 5,467 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 82,884 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1919.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Rick over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1910s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1910s | 6 |
| 1920s | 121 |
| 1930s | 269 |
| 1940s | 5,977 |
| 1950s | 34,411 |
| 1960s | 25,787 |
| 1970s | 6,163 |
| 1980s | 4,269 |
| 1990s | 2,566 |
| 2000s | 1,336 |
| 2010s | 790 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 269 |
What Rick means
Rick means brave ruler, carried from Richard. The Germanic joins a word for rule to one meaning hard or brave, so both halves of the compound point at strength.
Where Rick comes from
Rick shortens Richard, from the Germanic Ricohard — ric, rule or power, joined to hard, hardy or brave. The ric is the same element in Erik, Frederick and the German Reich, descending from the Indo-European root behind rex and raja. Medieval English then rhymed Rick into Dick, the same process that gave Bob from Rob and Bill from Will, which is why one name produced two unrecognisably different short forms.
Rick in use
Rick peaked in the United States in 1958, when 5,467 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It charts in exactly one of the six markets we track, at 3,075th in the United States on 40 births, across 82,676 lifetime births. Our records carry it from 1900.
How popular is Rick?
In 2025, Rick was given to 40 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Rick 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 Rick
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Rick also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Rick over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Rick 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 Rick
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Rick — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Rick
What does the name Rick mean?
Brave ruler — the Germanic ric, rule, joined to hard, brave.
Why is Dick short for Richard?
Medieval English rhymed Rick into Dick, the same habit that gave Bob from Rob.
Is Rick related to Erik?
In its first element — ric, rule, appears in both.
How popular is Rick?
3075th in the United States, down from a 1958 peak of 5,467 births.
Is Rick a girl's or a boy's name?
Rick is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Rick?
Rick has 1 syllable.
Is Rick a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Rick currently ranks #3,075 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.