Richard

German
"dominant ruler"

Richard Origin and Meaning

The name Richard is a boy's name of German origin meaning "dominant ruler".

A classic old Norman name popular for a thousand years and favored for kings (Richard Nixon was named for Richard the Lionhearted), as well as the hoi polloi (as in every Tom, Dick and Harry), Richard was the sixth most popular US boys’ name in 1925, and was still Number 8 in 1950, but is now much less popular.

We predict that if parents do readopt the name Richard, it will be in its full and formal version. All the possible nicknames -- Richie (too Happy Days), Ricky, (too I Love Lucy) and especially Dick (too tricky and teasable) -- sound so dated that it's hard to imagine Richard ever coming back into style. But not that long ago, people said that about now-hot baby names Jake and Max.

# 221 in the US

Richard Rank in US Top 1000

# 410 on Nameberry

Richard Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Richard Popularity

Famous People Named Richard

  • Richard I the Lionheart
    King of England
  • Richard II
    King of England
  • Richard III
    King of England and subject of a play by Shakespeare
  • Richard Wagner
    German composer
  • Richard Milhous Nixon
    37th U.S. president
  • Richard Burton
    Welsh actor
  • Richard Starkey
    birth name of Ringo Starr, English drummer for The Beatles
  • (Clinton) Richard Dawkins
    English evolutionist
  • Richard Charles Rodgers
    American composer
  • Richard Lynn Carpenter
    American musician and composer
  • Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor
    American comedian
  • Richard Tiffany Gere
    American actor
  • Richard Crispin Armitage
    English actor
  • Richard E. Grant
    English actor
  • Richard Alexander Walter George
    Prince of the U.K.; Duke of Gloucester; cousin of Elizabeth II
  • Richard Casimir Karl August Robert Konstantin
    6th Prince of Sayn,Wittgenstein,Berleburg; husband of Princess Benedikte of Denmark
  • Richard "Dick" Winters
    WWII paratrooper and CO of Easy Company (of "Band of Brothers" fame)
  • Richard Benjamin "Dick" Haymes
    Argentine actor & singer
  • Richard Ralph Haymes
    son of Dick Haymes & Joanne Dru
  • Richard Speight Jr.
    American actor
  • Richard Dean Anderson
    American actor
  • Richard Roxburgh
    Australian actor
  • Richard Madden
    Scottish actor
  • Richard Ellef Ayoade
    English comedian, actor, writer and director
  • Richard Robert Ruccolo
    American actor
  • Richard David Briers
    English actor
  • Richard Sherman
    NFL player
  • Richard (Richie) Hugh McCaw
    New Zealand rugby footballer
  • Richard Feynman
    American theoretical physicist & Nobel prize winner
  • Richard Hadfield
    member of English band Collabro
  • Richard Stephen Dreyfuss
    American actor
  • Richard "Dick" Gordon Jr.
    American astronaut
  • Richard 'Fazer' Rawson
    British Singer, Producer and member of N,Dubz
  • Richard Branson
    British entrepeneur
  • Richard Warren
    Mayflower passenger
  • Richard Morton Sherman
    American songwriter with his brother Robert B. Sherman
  • Richard Leaf
    British actor
  • Richard James "Rick" Cosnett
    Zimbabwean,Australian actor
  • Richard Lui
    American journalist, MSNBC anchor
  • Richard Meeker Jr.
    late son of American actress Mary Tyler Moore
  • Richard Jenkins
    American actor
  • Richard Blais
    American chef
  • Richard Everitt (b. 1978)
    15 year old white British boy who was stabbed to death because he was white in 1994

Richard in Pop Culture

  • Richard "Dick" Grayson
    also known as Robin, character in DC Universe
  • Richard Swift
    also known as Shade, character in DC Universe
  • Richard Hendricks
    character on TV's "Silicon Valley"
  • Richard Alexander Rodgers aka Richard Edgar "Rick" Castle
    character on TV's "Castle"
  • Richard Bucket
    character on British comedy "Keeping Up Appearances"
  • Richard Gilmore
    character on TV's "Gilmore Girls"
  • Richard Roma
    character in David Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross"
  • Richard Webber
    character on TV's "Grey's Anatomy"
  • Richard Travers
    character in the movie "Cliffhanger"
  • Richard Cole the English
    kjurnalist from the Power of Five book series
  • Richard Cypher
    main character on TV's "Legend of the Seeker"
  • Richard Parker
    tiger in Yann Martel's "Life of Pi"
  • Richard Wellington
    character in game 'Ace Attorney'
  • Richard Tyler
    character in animated film "The Pagemaster"
  • Richard "Dick" Casablancas
    character on TV's "Veronica Mars"
  • Richard "Dick" Campbell Gansey III
    character in "The Raven Cycle" by Maggie Stiefvater
  • Richard Papen
    character in "The Secret History"
  • Richard Lestrange
    character in "The Blue Lagoon"
  • Richard Phillips
    character in "Sims" series
  • Richard "Rocky" Scarlet
    character in "Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism" by Georgia Byng
  • Richard "Rich" Hardbeck
    character from British TV show "Skins"
  • Richard "Rick" Blaine
    character from "Casablanca"
  • Richard "Rick" Sanchez
    character from "Rick and Morty"
  • Richard "Dick" Roman
    character from Supernatural
  • Richard Watterson
    Gumball's father in the Amazing World of Gumball
  • Richard MacDuff
    programmer and ex,boyfriend of Dirk Gently in the novel "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency"