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

Rickards, 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 Rickards surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Rickards in America

Rickards is the 16179th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Rickards surname appeared 1,786 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 Rickards.

We can also compare 2010 data for Rickards 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.

The history of the last name Rickards

The surname RICKARDS originated in England, likely during the late medieval period around the 13th or 14th century. It is believed to be a locational surname, derived from the Old English words "ric" meaning rich or powerful, and "ard" meaning a high or elevated piece of land.

This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who lived in or came from a prosperous or prominent area situated on higher ground. Similar early spellings included Ricard, Rickard, and Rykard.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the Pipe Rolls of Worcestershire from 1182, where a William Ricard is mentioned. The Hundred Rolls of 1273 also lists a John Ricardessone in Cambridgeshire.

The RICKARDS surname has been found in various historical documents over the centuries, such as the Feet of Fines for Essex in 1399, which references a John Rycard. In the Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk from 1524, a Thomas Rykard is listed.

Prominent individuals with the RICKARDS surname include Sir Robert Rickards (1561-1636), an English merchant and politician who served as Lord Mayor of London in 1616. John Rickards (c.1638-1711) was an English clergyman and author who wrote several religious works.

Henry Rickards (1701-1763) was a Welsh lawyer and judge who served as a Justice of the King's Bench. Michael Rickards (1747-1822) was a British naval officer who achieved the rank of Rear Admiral and fought in several battles during the American Revolutionary War.

Another notable figure was George Kettilby Rickards (1812-1889), a British journalist and author who co-founded the publication The Economist and served as its first editor from 1843 to 1860.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Rickards

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

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 Rickards was:

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 Rickards has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

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 Rickards was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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