Richard Burton
There are approximately 556 people named Richard Burton living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 616,465 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Richard with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Burton. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
556
1 in 616,465
Named Richard
1.6M
Alive today
Named Burton
122K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 1.6M
Rarity: Very Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1946
Average age: 62
Top Census group: White (82.3%)
Estimated bearers: 122K
Rarity: Common
Census rank: #292
Per 100K: 35.46
Top ancestry: White (64.9%)
First name trend
Richard: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Richard. The peak year was 1946 with 58,991 births. The average person named Richard today is 62 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Richard
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Richard, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 82.3%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Richard described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name Richard at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White82.3% · 1,296,376
- Hispanic or Latino8.0% · 125,503
- Black or African American5.2% · 82,066
- Two or more races2.1% · 33,784
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 29,548
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 8,721
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Burton surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Burton, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 64.9%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Burton described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname Burton at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White64.9% · 68,794
- Black or African American26.1% · 27,675
- Two or more races4.5% · 4,806
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 3,523
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 686
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 503
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Richard has a living-bearer frequency of 0.4576% of the US population, based on 1,568,549 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name Richard right now.
The surname Burton appears at a rate of 35.46 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0355%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 556 people with the full name Richard Burton. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Richard
Related
Other people with the surname Burton
FAQ
Richard Burton: questions and answers
How many people are named Richard Burton?
We estimate approximately 556 people in the United States share the full name Richard Burton. That works out to about 1 in 616,465 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.4576%) with the surname frequency (35.46 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Richard Burton?
We classify Richard Burton as "Very Rare". About 1 in 616,465 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Richard a male or female name?
Richard is predominantly male. Out of 2,585,535 total SSA registrations, 99.6% were male and 0.4% were female. See the full Richard profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How many people are called Richard Burton?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.