2000
#47,838
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 416
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.15
Very Rare Last name
Richardt
A surname derived from a Germanic given name meaning "powerful ruler".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 518 Americans carry the last name Richardt. That puts it at #50,074 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.15 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 661,688 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Richardt surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
518
1 in 661,688
Census rank
#50,074
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
452
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 452 bearers of the surname Richardt in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.15 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 50074th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Richardt, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.4%) and Black (2.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Richardt
The surname RICHARDT is of German origin, tracing its roots back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Germanic personal name Richard, which itself comes from the elements "ric" meaning power or rule, and "hard" meaning hardy, brave, or strong. This combination suggests the name originally referred to someone who was a powerful or valiant ruler.
In its earliest forms, the name was spelled Richart, Ricchart, or Riccard in various parts of Germany and the surrounding regions. The modern spelling with a "d" at the end emerged later on as a variant. Some of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in medieval German chronicles and town records from the 13th and 14th centuries.
One notable early bearer of the RICHARDT name was Johann Richardt, a German merchant and explorer who traveled to India and Persia in the late 15th century. His accounts of his voyages provided valuable insights into the trade routes and cultures of those regions at the time.
In the 16th century, a branch of the RICHARDT family settled in the town of Görlitz, in what is now eastern Germany. The Richardt family played a prominent role in the town's civic affairs and governance for several generations.
Another historically significant RICHARDT was Margarethe Richardt, a German noblewoman who lived in the late 17th century. She was a patron of the arts and hosted many cultural gatherings at her estate, attracting writers, musicians, and artists from across Europe.
During the 18th century, the RICHARDT name began to spread more widely across Germany and into neighboring countries. One notable figure from this period was Karl Friedrich Richardt, a German mathematician and astronomer who made important contributions to the study of celestial mechanics and the calculation of planetary orbits.
As the RICHARDT family dispersed throughout Europe over the centuries, the name also took on various spellings in different languages, such as Rickert in Dutch and Rickard in Swedish. However, the core meaning and origin of the name remained consistent across these variations.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Richardt
Among Census respondents with the surname Richardt, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.4%) and Black (2.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Richardt bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Richardt surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.6% · 414
- Two or more races2.4% · 11
- Black or African American2.2% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Richardt
Richardt appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#55,255
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 372
-44 bearers (-10.6%)
Per 100,000 0.13
Rank movement Down 7,417 places
2020
#50,074
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 452
+80 bearers (+21.5%)
Per 100,000 0.15
Rank movement Up 5,181 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #47,838 | 416 | 0.15 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #55,255 | 372 | 0.13 | -44 bearers (-10.6%) | Down 7,417 places |
| 2020 | #50,074 | 452 | 0.15 | +80 bearers (+21.5%) | Up 5,181 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Richardt surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #55,255 | #50,074 | 9.4% |
| Count | 372 | 452 | 21.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.13 | 0.15 | 16.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Richardt bearers went from 372 to 452 (+21.5% change). The surname moved up 5,181 positions in the national ranking, going from #55,255 to #50,074.
FAQ
Richardt surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Richardt?
Name Census estimates that about 518 living Americans carry the surname Richardt. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 661,688 residents.
How common is Richardt?
Richardt ranks #50,074 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.15 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 452 people with the surname Richardt. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (518), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.15 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.15 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Richardt.
Has Richardt become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Richardt went from 372 recorded bearers to 452. That is an increase of 80 (+21.5%). In the national ranking it rose from #55,255 to #50,074.
What does the Census say about the background of Richardt?
Among Census respondents with the surname Richardt, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.4%) and Black (2.2%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Richardt in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.6% (414 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Richardt appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.6%), Two or More Races (2.4%), Black (2.2%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Richardt (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Richardt mean?
A surname derived from a Germanic given name meaning "powerful ruler". The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Richardt (0.15 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Richardt?
Find out how many Americans have the surname Richardt on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.