Richie
Diminutive form of Richard, a masculine name of Germanic origin meaning "brave ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 6,425 living Americans carry the first name Richie. It is a predominantly male name (94.4% of registrations). The average person named Richie today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Richie births was 1964 (230 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Richie. 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
6.4K
~ 1 in 53,347 Americans
Peak year
1964
230 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,798
Tracked since 1899
Gender
Gender distribution for Richie
Richie leans heavily male at 94.4% of total registrations, but 419 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Richie as a male name
- Ranked #1,798 in 2024
- 91 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1964 (220 births)
Richie as a female name
- Ranked #10,885 in 2024
- 9 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1946 (16 births)
Popularity
Richie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Richie from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 1,761 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Richie 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 Richie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Richies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 27 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Richie, while Washington, Minnesota, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 132 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Richie
The name Richie is an English diminutive form of the name Richard, which derives from the Germanic name Ricard. The name Ricard itself is composed of the Germanic elements ric, meaning "power" or "ruler," and hard, meaning "brave" or "hardy." Thus, the full meaning of the name Richard, and by extension Richie, is "brave power" or "powerful ruler."
The name Richard gained widespread popularity in medieval Europe due to its association with several prominent figures in history. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the 8th century, with the Frankish Duke Richard the Justiciar, who lived from around 725 to 791.
In England, the name became particularly popular after the Norman Conquest in 1066, when William the Conqueror's loyal supporter, Richard FitzGilbert, was rewarded with lands and titles. The name Richard subsequently appeared in several English monarchs, including Richard I (1157-1199), known as Richard the Lionheart, and Richard III (1452-1485), whose reign was marked by the Wars of the Roses.
Other notable historical figures with the name Richard include the Italian composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883), the American writer Richard Wright (1908-1960), and the English actor Richard Burton (1925-1984). The diminutive form Richie has also been borne by several famous individuals, such as the American singer-songwriter Richie Havens (1941-2013) and the American actor Richie Sambora (born 1959).
Additionally, the name Richie has appeared in various literary works and religious texts throughout history. In the Bible, the Book of Revelation mentions a figure named "the rich man," which some scholars believe may be a reference to a person named Richard or Richie. The name has also been used in works of fiction, such as the character Richie Tozier in Stephen King's novel "It."
Notable bearers
Famous people named Richie
People
Richie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Richie 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
Richie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Richie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,425 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Richie 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 53,347 US residents.
Is Richie a common name?
We classify Richie as "Rare". It ranks above 97% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,478 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Richie most popular?
The single biggest year for Richie was 1964, when 230 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Richie is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Richie a male name?
Yes, 94.4% of people registered as Richie in the SSA data are male. 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.
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.