Rica
A feminine Spanish name derived from the word "rica" meaning "wealthy" or "rich".
Name Census estimates that about 468 living Americans carry the first name Rica. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rica today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rica births was 1991 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rica. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Rica with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
468
~ 1 in 732,381 Americans
Peak year
1991
33 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2024 SSA rank
#17,115
Tracked since 1914
Census
Rica in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 995 people with the first name Rica, which placed it at #12,481 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#12,481
National first-name rank
People counted
995
995 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
42.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rica
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rica is Asian/Pacific Islander at 42.3%. The next largest groups are White (22.9%) and Black (18.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Rica described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Rica at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander42.3% · 421
- White22.9% · 228
- Black or African American18.1% · 180
- Hispanic or Latino11.6% · 115
- Two or more races4.4% · 44
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 7
Popularity
Rica: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rica from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 140 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rica by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Rica during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ricas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Rica
Rica is a feminine given name with origins that can be traced back to several cultures and languages. The name likely has its roots in the Spanish and Portuguese languages, where it may have derived from the word "rica," meaning "rich" or "wealthy." This could suggest that the name was originally bestowed upon those born into affluent or prosperous families.
In some regions of Latin America, particularly in Mexico and Central America, the name Rica may also be a shortened form of the Spanish name Enrica or Enricheta, which are derived from the Germanic name Heinrich, meaning "ruler of the home." This connection could imply that the name was initially associated with leadership, authority, or household management.
Another possible origin of the name Rica can be found in the Italian language, where it may have evolved from the name Enrichetta, a variant of Enrica. This Italian form of the name has roots in the Germanic name Henric, which also means "ruler of the home."
Historically, one of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rica can be traced back to the 13th century, when a woman named Rica de Villahermosa was mentioned in a document from the Kingdom of Aragon in present-day Spain. In the 14th century, a noble woman named Rica de Foxà was recorded in documents from the region of Catalonia, also in Spain.
Over the centuries, several notable figures have borne the name Rica:
1. Rica Evernden (1885-1968), an English actress and singer who performed in various plays and musicals in the early 20th century.
2. Rica Reinisch (1921-2011), an Austrian writer and journalist known for her autobiographical works and contributions to Austrian literature.
3. Rica Bhattacharyya (1932-2020), an Indian author and academic who wrote extensively on Indian history, culture, and women's issues.
4. Rica Roy (born 1945), a Canadian singer and actress who gained popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly in Quebec.
5. Rica Matsumoto (born 1960), a Japanese voice actress and singer who has provided voices for numerous anime and video game characters.
While the name Rica may have had different origins and meanings across various cultures, it has been borne by individuals from diverse backgrounds, reflecting the rich tapestry of human history and the enduring appeal of this feminine moniker.
People
Rica + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rica as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rica: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rica?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 468 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rica going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 732,381 US residents.
Is Rica a common name?
We classify Rica as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 525 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rica most popular?
The single biggest year for Rica was 1991, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rica is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rica in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 995 people with the name Rica, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,481 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Rica in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Rica?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rica leans strongly female. 969 people counted with this name were female (97.2%), compared with 28 male bearers (2.8%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Rica?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rica is Asian/Pacific Islander at 42.3%. The next largest groups are White (22.9%) and Black (18.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Rica most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Rica in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.3% (421 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Rica in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rica a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rica in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Rica still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rica in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Rica can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Rica?
Find out how many Americans are named Rica on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.