US baby names · Boys · 1880–2025
Richard: name popularity by year
How often US parents chose Richard for a baby boy, year by year, from Social Security Administration records. When it peaked, how long it stayed in the top 10, and which generation it belongs to.
Richard was one of the 10 most common boys' names in the US in 51 years, between 1920 and 1970, reaching #5. Births peaked in 1946, when 58,870 baby boys were named Richard, so by peak year it is a Baby Boomers name.
Richard in the US top 10, by year
Rank among boys' names, #1 at the top. Blank years: outside the top 10. Dashed line: the year with the most babies named Richard (1946).
Top-10 years by generation
| Generation | Years in top 10 | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| Greatest Generation | 8 (1920–1927) | #6 |
| Silent Generation | 18 (1928–1945) | #5 |
| Baby Boomers | 19 (1946–1964) | #5 |
| Generation X | 6 (1965–1970) | #8 |
Every top-10 year
Questions people ask
When was the name Richard most popular?
By number of babies, in 1946, when 58,870 boys were given the name. By rank, it reached #5 and spent 51 years in the top 10.
What generation is the name Richard?
Its peak year, 1946, falls in Baby Boomers (1946–1964). Its 51 top-10 years fall in: Greatest Generation (8), Silent Generation (18), Baby Boomers (19), Generation X (6).
How many people have been named Richard?
SSA counted 2,577,552 boys named Richard born from 1880 to 2025. That is births, not people alive today, and it misses many people born before 1937 who never applied for a Social Security card.
In the top 10 at the same time
Source: US Social Security Administration baby-name data, from Social Security card applications for births in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, 1880–2025. Many people born before 1937 never applied for a card, so early years undercount. Spellings are counted separately. We hold each year's top 10 in rank order and each name's peak-year and all-time counts, so the chart shows rank rather than births per year. This page gives no meaning or origin for the name and no estimate of how many people named Richard are alive today.