Rick
Masculine · “brave ruler”
Rick is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 81,829 boys against 135 girls since 1880.
Rick is the second half of Richard doing the work of the whole name. The Germanic element ric meant ruler, and it sits at the end of Richard, Frederick, Roderick, Cedric and Eric — a word that ended up in half the royal names of Europe.
How old is the name Rick?
Rick first appears in US birth records in 1919 — 106 years ago. The typical Rick alive today was born around 1959, making them about 66 years old. About 64,000 people named Rick are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rick most popular?
Rick peaked in 1958, reaching #77 nationally. Today it ranks #3036, 2,959 places below that high. See the whole 1958 chart.
Rick appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Ricohard to Rick
The story of Rick
Richard arrived in England with the Normans and stayed near the top of the charts for eight centuries, carried by three kings and worn down in speech to Rick, Dick and Hick. Dick came from the same rhyming habit that gave Bob and Bill; Rick is the plain clipping. American registration of Rick as a legal name is a twentieth-century development, rising through the 1950s to a peak at the end of that decade, alongside Ricky and Rickey.
Meaning
brave ruler
Through Richard, from the Germanic ric, 'ruler' or 'power', and hard, 'brave' or 'hardy'. The ric element is cognate with the Latin rex and the Sanskrit raja; it is one of the oldest and most widely traveled word-roots in any European name.
How the name formed
- Ricohard
- Richard
- Rick
Related forms: Richard · Riccardo · Ricardo · Rikárd
Pronouncing Rick
RIK
One syllable. Said identically in every English accent.
Nicknames for Rick
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1919
- Most boys named
- 19594,936 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #77reached in 1958
- Change vs 2023
- −7.0%40 in 2025, from 43
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Rick in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Richard in German — same name
- Riccardo in Italian — related form
- Ricardo in Spanish — related form
- Rikárd in Hungarian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Ricks among us
people named Rick are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 42,702 born in 2025 was named Rick
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Alton test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Rick's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Alton climbed just as high around 1904, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Alton's path sketches the road Rick is walking now.
Rick sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Rick is headed
Rick should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Rick beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Rick in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Richard stands behind it with a thousand years of continuous English use.
- One syllable, hard-edged and clear, and impossible to mishear.
- The ric element connects it to a large family of European names.
- Given outright it stays informal, with no longer form on the certificate.
- It is closely associated with the middle of the twentieth century in American use.
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What they receive
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Rick
Masculine · #3036 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ricks are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 64,000 people named Rick are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Rick in 2025?
- Rick ranks #3036 among US boy names in 2025, with 40 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Rick?
- About 1 in every 42,702 US boys born in 2025 was named Rick — 40 in all.
- Will my child share the name Rick with classmates?
- Rick will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Rick
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Loren#3036 · Williams#3036 · Collier#3036 · Amadou#3036 · Kavion#3036 · Sheppard#3036 · Koi#3036 · Claude#3036
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rick? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Rick and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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