Rikki
Masculine
Rikki is given to both — 624 boys and 7,088 girls since 1880. See Rikki as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Rikki is a bright short form, most often of Frederica, Erica or Ricarda, that became a girl's name in its own right. It has been a mongoose in Kipling and a hit song for Steely Dan.
How old is the name Rikki?
Rikki first appears in US birth records in 1947 — 78 years ago. The typical Rikki alive today was born around 1985, making them about 40 years old. About 600 people named Rikki are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Rikki most popular?
Rikki peaked in 1956, reaching #1821 nationally. See the whole 1956 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Frederica to Rikki
The story of Rikki
In Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, published in 1894, a young mongoose named for his chattering war cry, 'Rikk-tikk-tikki-tikki-tchk', saves an English family in India from a pair of cobras; Rikki-Tikki-Tavi became one of the best-loved animal stories in English. In 1974 Steely Dan reached the American top five with 'Rikki Don't Lose That Number'. Rikki as a girl's name spread in the second half of the twentieth century; the spelling is recorded for a handful of boys, but it is overwhelmingly a girl's name.
Meaning
A short form of names ending in -rika or beginning with Ric-
Rikki usually shortens Frederica, Erica or Ricarda, whose shared element ric means 'ruler'.
How the name formed
- Frederica
- Rikki
Related forms: Ricki · Rikki · Rike
Pronouncing Rikki
RIK-ee
Two syllables with the stress on the first.
Nicknames for Rikki
Limited
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
- 1947
- Most boys named
- 199129 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1821reached in 1956
- Change vs 2013
- +40.0%7 in 2016, from 5
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.
Rikki in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ricki in English — spelling variant
- Rikki in English — same name
- Rike in German — related form
Rikkis among us
people named Rikki are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Rikki sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Bright, friendly and easy to say.
- Can stand alone or pair with a longer formal name.
- Distinctive in this spelling.
- People will write Ricki or Rickie.
- Some will assume it is a boy's nickname for Richard.
- The mongoose story will come up with readers of Kipling.
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Rikki
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Rikkis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Rikki are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Rikki in 2025?
- Rikki is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Rikki with classmates?
- Rikki will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More R names
The most-given names starting with R, all years combined.
Robert#92 · Richard#234 · Ronald#637 · Ryan#99 · Raymond#394 · Roger#832 · Ralph#1046 · Roy#525
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Rikki? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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