Ritchie
A masculine diminutive of Richard, from the old German name Richert meaning "powerful ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 3,456 living Americans carry the first name Ritchie. It is a predominantly male name (98.8% of registrations). The average person named Ritchie today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ritchie births was 1964 (153 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ritchie. 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 Ritchie with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.5K
~ 1 in 99,177 Americans
Peak year
1964
153 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,285
Tracked since 1914
Census
Ritchie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,283 people with the first name Ritchie, which placed it at #5,287 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
#5,287
National first-name rank
People counted
3.3K
3,283 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ritchie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ritchie is White at 58.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.8%) and Black (11.5%). 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 Ritchie 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 Ritchie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.2% · 1,911
- Hispanic or Latino15.8% · 518
- Black or African American11.5% · 378
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.0% · 361
- Two or more races2.5% · 83
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 32
Gender
Gender distribution for Ritchie
Ritchie leans heavily male at 98.8% of total registrations, but 50 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ritchie as a male name
- Ranked #4,285 in 2024
- 25 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1964 (153 births)
Ritchie as a female name
- Ranked #6,448 in 1954
- 5 female births in 1954
- Peak: 1940 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ritchie leans strongly male. 3,116 people counted with this name were male (94.9%), compared with 168 female bearers (5.1%).
Popularity
Ritchie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ritchie from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 1,035 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
Ritchie 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 Ritchie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ritchies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. California, North Carolina, Texas recorded the most babies named Ritchie, while West Virginia, Iowa, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 62 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ritchie
The name Ritchie is derived from the Old English word "ric," meaning "powerful" or "wealthy." This name has its origins in England and Scotland, where it was commonly used during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Ritchie can be found in the Domesday Book, a survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This document mentions several individuals with the name, indicating its widespread use at the time.
In the 13th century, a notable figure named Ritchie de Bury was a prominent clergyman and bibliophile who served as the Bishop of Durham. He is best known for his work in collecting and preserving ancient manuscripts, which earned him the title "the first English collector of books."
During the 16th century, a Scottish nobleman named Ritchie Bannatyne played a significant role in preserving Scottish literary heritage. He compiled a collection of poems and songs known as the Bannatyne Manuscript, which is considered one of the most important sources of early Scottish literature.
In the 18th century, Ritchie Monckton was a British politician and military officer who served as the Governor of Nova Scotia from 1767 to 1776. He played a crucial role in the development of the colony and the establishment of its governing institutions.
Another notable figure with the name Ritchie is Ritchie Valens, an American singer and songwriter of Mexican descent. Born in 1941, Valens achieved fame with his hit songs "La Bamba" and "Donna." Tragically, his promising career was cut short when he died in a plane crash at the age of 17, known as "The Day the Music Died."
Throughout history, the name Ritchie has been associated with individuals from various backgrounds, including clergy, nobility, politicians, military personnel, and artists. Its enduring popularity can be attributed to its strong and powerful connotations, reflecting the name's rich heritage.
People
Ritchie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ritchie 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
Ritchie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ritchie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,456 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ritchie 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 99,177 US residents.
Is Ritchie a common name?
We classify Ritchie as "Rare". It ranks above 95.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,142 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ritchie most popular?
The single biggest year for Ritchie was 1964, when 153 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ritchie is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ritchie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,283 people with the name Ritchie, or 1.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,287 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 Ritchie 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 Ritchie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ritchie leans strongly male. 3,116 people counted with this name were male (94.9%), compared with 168 female bearers (5.1%). 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 Ritchie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ritchie is White at 58.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.8%) and Black (11.5%). 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 Ritchie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ritchie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.2% (1,911 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 Ritchie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ritchie a male name?
Yes, 98.8% of people registered as Ritchie 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 Ritchie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ritchie 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 Ritchie 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 Americans are named Ritchie?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.