Richard

Richárd means “brave ruler” and comes from the Old German elements rih, meaning “ruler” or “king,” and hart, meaning “hard,” “firm,” “brave,” or “hardy.” It was the name of three early dukes of Normandy, and the Normans brought it to England in the 11th century, where it became very common; it was also borne by three kings of England, including Richard I the Lionheart, a leader of the Third Crusade. In late medieval England it was usually among the five most common male names, alongside John, William, Robert, and Thomas, and it stayed fairly popular into modern times, peaking in the United States in the 1940s and in the United Kingdom a little later before gradually declining. Notable bearers include the composers Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss, the explorer Richard Burton, President Richard Nixon, the physicist Richard Feynman, the actor Richard Burton, and the musician Little Richard.

Richard moved from #233 to #234 for boys between 2024 and 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 1946, with 58,870 births.