Richetta
A feminine name deriving from Germanic origins, meaning "powerful ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 157 living Americans carry the first name Richetta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Richetta today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Richetta births was 1953 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Richetta. 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.
People living today
157
~ 1 in 2,183,149 Americans
Peak year
1953
11 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
1986 SSA rank
#10,553
Tracked since 1932
Census
Richetta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 235 people with the first name Richetta, which placed it at #34,648 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
#34,648
National first-name rank
People counted
235
235 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
85.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Richetta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Richetta is Black at 85.1%. The next largest groups are White (9.4%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Richetta 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 Richetta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American85.1% · 200
- White9.4% · 22
- Two or more races3.4% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Richetta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Richetta from the 1930s through to the 1980s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 56 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1960s peak, Richetta remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Richetta 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 Richetta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Richetta
The given name Richetta has its origins in the Germanic language group, derived from the elements "ric" meaning "powerful" or "ruler" and "haid" meaning "kind" or "sort." It emerged during the Middle Ages, primarily in regions where Germanic influences prevailed, such as parts of modern-day Germany, France, and Italy.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Richetta can be found in the Annales Sancti Blasii, a medieval chronicle written in the 12th century, where it is mentioned in reference to a noblewoman from the region of Saxony. The name's connection to Germanic nobility and ruling classes is further evidenced by its appearance in various historical documents and records from the 11th to 14th centuries.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Richetta. In the 12th century, Richetta of Normandy (c. 1090 - c. 1153) was a powerful Norman noblewoman and heiress who played a significant role in the political affairs of medieval England and France. Another prominent figure was Richetta of Montferrat (c. 1135 - c. 1198), a member of the influential Aleramici dynasty and the wife of William V of Montferrat, a key figure in the Third Crusade.
In the 13th century, Richetta of Biandrate (c. 1210 - c. 1262) was a influential countess who ruled over the County of Biandrate in northern Italy. Her contemporary, Richetta of Saluzzo (c. 1220 - c. 1292), was a prominent noblewoman from the House of Saluzzo and played a significant role in the political affairs of the region.
Moving into the 14th century, Richetta of Camino (c. 1320 - c. 1390) was a notable Italian noblewoman and the last member of the prestigious Camino family to rule the signoria of Treviso in what is now northeastern Italy.
While the name Richetta has its roots in the Germanic language and was particularly prevalent among noble and ruling classes during the Middle Ages, it has since become less common in modern times, although variations and diminutives of the name continue to be used in some regions.
People
Richetta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Richetta 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
Richetta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Richetta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 157 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Richetta 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 2,183,149 US residents.
Is Richetta a common name?
We classify Richetta as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 212 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Richetta most popular?
The single biggest year for Richetta was 1953, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Richetta is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Richetta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 235 people with the name Richetta, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,648 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 Richetta 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 Richetta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Richetta appears almost entirely female. Of the 230 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Richetta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Richetta is Black at 85.1%. The next largest groups are White (9.4%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Richetta most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Richetta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.1% (200 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 Richetta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Richetta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Richetta 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 Richetta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Richetta 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 Richetta 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 have the name Richetta?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.