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

Rickenbacker, 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 Rickenbacker surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Rickenbacker in America

Rickenbacker is the 46811th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Rickenbacker surname appeared 454 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Rickenbacker.

We can also compare 2010 data for Rickenbacker 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 Rickenbacker

The surname Rickenbacker is an anglicized version of the German surname Reichenbacher, which originated in the region of Bavaria in southern Germany. The name is derived from the German words "reich" meaning "rich" and "bach" meaning "brook" or "stream". It is believed to have been a locative surname, referring to someone who lived near a rich or prosperous stream.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rickenbacker can be found in the Bavarian town of Reichenbach, dating back to the 16th century. Historical records show that a family with the surname Reichenbacher resided in this town during that time.

The surname Rickenbacker first appeared in the United States in the late 18th century, when German immigrants began arriving in America. One of the earliest known individuals with this surname was Johann Michael Rickenbacher, who was born in 1764 in Bavaria and immigrated to Pennsylvania in the 1780s.

In the 19th century, the surname Rickenbacker gained prominence with the birth of Edward Vernon Rickenbacker (1890-1973), an American fighter ace in World War I and Medal of Honor recipient. He was also a successful race car driver and automotive designer, and later became the president of Eastern Air Lines.

Another notable individual with this surname was Wilhelm Rickenbacher (1885-1976), a Swiss architect and urban planner who was responsible for the design of several prominent buildings and urban development projects in Switzerland.

Other individuals of historical significance with the surname Rickenbacker include Johann Rickenbacher (1807-1888), a German composer and music educator, and Friedrich Rickenbacher (1870-1938), a Swiss writer and journalist.

It is worth noting that the surname Rickenbacker has also been associated with several place names in Germany, such as Reichenbach an der Fils, a town in Baden-Württemberg, and Reichenbach im Vogtland, a town in Saxony.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Rickenbacker

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

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

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

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