Ricard last name popularity, history, and meaning

Find out how popular the last name Ricard is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Ricard.

Meaning of Ricard

A French occupational surname referring to a person who was powerful, mighty, or brave.

Ricard, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Ricard surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ricard in America

Ricard is the 10708th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ricard surname appeared 2,984 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Ricard.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ricard to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 10708 10578 1.22%
Count 2,984 2,783 6.97%
Proportion per 100k 1.01 1.03 -1.96%

The history of the last name Ricard

The surname Ricard originated in France during the medieval period. It is derived from the Old French given name Richard, which in turn comes from the Germanic elements "ric" meaning power or rule, and "hard" meaning brave or hardy. The name was brought to England after the Norman Conquest in 1066.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ricard appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, a manuscript record of landholders in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. Several individuals with the surname Ricard are listed as landowners in various counties.

In the 12th century, a notable figure named William Ricard served as Sheriff of Herefordshire in England. Around the same time, a Benedictine monk named Peter Ricard lived in the diocese of Coutances in Normandy, France.

During the 13th century, the surname Ricard was found in various records across England and France. A man named John Ricard was recorded as a landowner in the county of Somerset, England in 1273. In France, a nobleman named Guillaume Ricard was mentioned in a charter from the region of Burgundy in 1285.

One of the earliest known bearers of the surname Ricard was a French poet and author named Arnaud Ricard, who lived in the 14th century. His work "Le Livres des Vertus" was a popular book of moral teachings at the time.

In the 15th century, a French noble named Jean Ricard served as a chamberlain to King Charles VII of France. Another notable figure was Étienne Ricard, a French architect who designed several churches and buildings in the city of Lyon between 1480 and 1515.

As the surname spread throughout Europe, it underwent various spelling variations such as Riccard, Rickard, and Richart. Some notable individuals with these variations include Sir Paul Riccard, a 16th-century English politician, and Sir Andrew Riccard, a 17th-century English merchant and financier.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ricard

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Ricard.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

  1. White only
  2. Black only
  3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
  4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
  5. Hispanic
  6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Ricard was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 68.16% 2,034
Non-Hispanic Black Only 21.48% 641
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.67% 20
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.30% 9
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 2.35% 70
Hispanic Origin 7.04% 210

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Ricard has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 68.16% 68.70% -0.79%
Black 21.48% 21.70% -1.02%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.67% 0.40% 50.47%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.30% 0.18% 50.00%
Two or More Races 2.35% 2.95% -22.64%
Hispanic 7.04% 6.07% 14.80%

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Ricard was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Ricard, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"Ricard last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on November 2, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/ricard-surname-popularity/.

"Ricard last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/ricard-surname-popularity/. Accessed 2 November, 2024

Ricard last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/ricard-surname-popularity/.

Search for a name

Search for a first or last name to learn more about its origin, meaning, and more.

Simple as that.