Ridgeway
Of English origin, meaning "path along a ridge or elevated piece of ground".
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Ridgeway. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ridgeway today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ridgeway births was 1923 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ridgeway. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ridgeway. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1923
6 babies that year
Average age
-
1923 SSA rank
#4,157
Tracked since 1922
Popularity
Ridgeway: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Ridgeway 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 Ridgeway during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 11 | 0 | 11 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Ridgeway
The name Ridgeway is an English toponymic surname derived from the Old English words "hrycg" meaning ridge and "weg" meaning way or path, referring to a ridge-top road or path. It originated in the Middle Ages, likely between the 11th and 13th centuries, in rural areas of England where such ridge-top paths were common features of the landscape.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Sir Thomas Ridgeway, an English knight who fought in the Hundred Years' War in the 14th century. He is mentioned in chronicles from the time as taking part in the Battle of Crécy in 1346 under King Edward III.
In the 16th century, a notable figure named Ridgeway was Sir Thomas Ridgeway, an English sailor and explorer who accompanied Sir Francis Drake on his circumnavigation of the globe from 1577 to 1580. Ridgeway's account of the voyage, published in 1590, provided valuable insights into the expedition.
During the English Civil War in the 17th century, Colonel William Ridgeway was a prominent military leader who fought for the Parliamentarian forces against King Charles I. He commanded troops at the Battle of Naseby in 1645, which was a decisive victory for the Parliamentarians.
In the 18th century, the name Ridgeway was associated with Robert Ridgeway, a British botanist and horticulturist who lived from 1720 to 1789. He is known for his work in cataloguing and describing plants from various parts of the world, particularly those brought back by explorers from the Americas and Asia.
Moving into the 19th century, one notable bearer of the name was Matthew Ridgeway, an English painter and engraver who lived from 1837 to 1888. He is renowned for his landscape paintings depicting rural scenes from various parts of England, many of which featured ridge-top paths and roads.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have borne the name Ridgeway, highlighting its English origins and its connection to the geographic feature of ridge-top paths and roads.
People
Ridgeway + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ridgeway 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
Ridgeway: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ridgeway?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ridgeway 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 - US residents.
Is Ridgeway a common name?
We classify Ridgeway as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ridgeway most popular?
The single biggest year for Ridgeway was 1923, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ridgeway is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Ridgeway in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ridgeway a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ridgeway 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.
Is Ridgeway still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ridgeway 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 Ridgeway 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have Ridgeway as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.