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

Rickey, 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 Rickey surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Rickey in America

Rickey is the 12323rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Rickey surname appeared 2,523 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 Rickey.

We can also compare 2010 data for Rickey 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 Rickey

The surname Rickey has its origins in the Old English words "ric" and "rice", which mean powerful or wealthy. It is an English surname that first emerged in the areas of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire in the 12th century. The earliest recorded spelling of the name is found in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire in 1176, where one William Riche is mentioned.

In the Domesday Book of 1086, a record of landowners in England, there are several references to places with names similar to Rickey, such as Richebi and Richingeham. These place names likely contributed to the development of the surname Rickey, as people were often identified by the place they lived or came from.

One of the earliest recorded bearers of the surname Rickey was Sir William Rickey, a knight who fought in the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 during the Hundred Years' War. Another notable figure was Thomas Rickey (1519-1567), an English churchman and academic who served as the Provost of King's College, Cambridge.

In the 17th century, the surname Rickey was found in various spellings, including Rickie, Ricky, and Rickey. One of the earliest recorded instances of the spelling "Rickey" is found in the parish records of St. Mary's Church in Beverley, Yorkshire, where a John Rickey was baptized in 1642.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, several individuals with the surname Rickey made significant contributions. Joseph Rickey (1757-1827) was an American farmer and pioneer who settled in Kentucky and helped establish the town of Rickey's Station. Samuel Rickey (1810-1881) was an American politician who served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives.

Another notable bearer of the surname was Branch Rickey (1881-1965), an American baseball executive who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball by signing Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1945. Rickey's decision was a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement and helped pave the way for the integration of professional sports.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Rickey

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

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

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

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