Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic *rīk- 'ruler, leader, king' and *hardu- 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong in rule'.[1][2] Nicknames include "Richie", "Dick", "Dickon", "Dickie",[3] "Rich", "Rick", "Rico", "Ricky",[1] and more.

Richard
17th-century portrait of Richard the Lionheart, a 12th-century King of England
PronunciationEnglish: /ˈrɪərd/
French: [ʁiʃaʁ]
German: [ˈʁɪçaʁt]
Czech: [ˈrɪxart]
GenderMale
Origin
Word/nameFrankish
Meaning'strong in rule'
Other names
Nickname(s)Richy, Rich, Rick, Dick, Dicky, Dickie, Dicken, Reeks, Riccardo, Richie, Ritchie, Ricardo, Rico, Ricky, Rickie, Ritchy, Rickey, Rickard

Richard is a common English (the name was introduced into England by the Normans),[1] German and French male name. It's also used in many more languages, particularly Germanic, such as Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, and Dutch, as well as other languages including Irish, Scottish, Welsh and Finnish. Richard is cognate with variants of the name in other European languages, such as the Swedish "Rickard", the Portuguese and Spanish "Ricardo" and the Italian "Riccardo" (see comprehensive variant list below).

People named Richard

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Multiple people with the same name

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Rulers and heads of state

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Aristocrats and non-ruling royals

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Religious figures

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In politics and government

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In business

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  • Richard L. Bloch (1929–2018), American investor, real estate developer, banker, and philanthropist
  • Richard Branson (born 1950), British businessman and founder of the Virgin Group of companies
  • Richard Deeb (1924–1990), American real estate developer
  • Richard DeVos (1926–2018), American businessman and co-founder of Amway
  • Richard Jacobs (businessman) (1925–2009), American real estate businessman and owner of the Cleveland Indians baseball team
  • Richard Morefield (1929–2010), American diplomat
  • Richard Oetker (born 1951), German businessman, CEO of Dr. Oetker since 2010
  • Richard Rawlings (born 1969), star of American television show Fast N' Loud, owner of Gas Monkey garage, Gas Monkey Bar N' Grill and Gas Monkey Live
  • Richard Warren Sears (1863–1914), co-founder of Sears, Roebuck and Company, and considered a promotional genius
  • Richard Velazquez (born 1973), PepsiCo executive and first automotive designer at Porsche AG (Germany) of Puerto Rican descent
  • Richard Wilding, British businessman and academic

In music

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Composers

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Singers and musicians

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Actors

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In film and television

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Explorers

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  • Richard R. Arnold (born 1963), American astronaut
  • Richard Francis Burton (1821–1890), British geographer, explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer and diplomat
  • Richard E. Byrd (1888–1957), US Navy rear admiral, aviator and explorer
  • Richard Masters (aka William Marsters), English sailor, cooper, trader and explorer
  • Dick Rutkowski, American diving medicine pioneer

Scientists

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In sports

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Soldiers, pilots, other military/security

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Writers and journalists

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Crime

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Other

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Fictional characters

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  • Richard, a fictional character from the television series Peg + Cat

Cognates/transliterations

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In Indo-European languages

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Baltic

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Celtic

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Germanic

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Romance

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Slavic

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Other Indo-European

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In Semitic languages

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  • Arabic: ريتشارد (Rytshard, Ritshard, Rytshard, Ritshard)
  • Hebrew: ריצ'רד (Rîtsard')
  • Tamazight: ⵔⵉⴽⴰⵔⴷ (Rikard)
  • Amharic: ሪቻርድ (Rīcharidi)
  • Tigrinya: ሪቻርድ (Ričārede)

In Cushitic languages

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In Malayo-Polynesian languages

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  • Tagalog: Ricardo, Rikardo, Dikado (Baybayin: ᜇᜒᜃᜇ᜔ᜇᜓ, ᜇᜒᜃᜇᜇᜓ)
  • Bisaya: Ricardo, Rikardo

In Turkic languages

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In Uralic languages

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In other languages

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Short forms

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  • Cornish: Hicca
  • Czech: Ríša, Rik (Riker)
  • Dutch: Ries
  • English: Rick, Rich, Richie, Dick, Dicky, Dickie, Ric, Rik, Ricky, Rickie, Dickon, Richy, Ritchy, Ritchie
  • Estonian: Riho
  • Esperanto: Rikĉjo
  • Finnish: Riku
  • Greek: Στούκος (Stoúkos)
  • Hungarian: Ricsi, Ricsike, Rics
  • Icelandic: Rikki
  • Italian: Ricky, Riki, Richi
  • Latvian: Ričs
  • Lithuanian: Ryčka, Rytis
  • Polish: Rysio, Rysiek, Ryś
  • Portuguese: Rico, Ric
  • Slovak: Rišo, Riško, Riči
  • Spanish: Cayo (Guatemala)
  • Swiss/German: Richi

Nicknames

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  • English: Ricky, Rickie, Rikki, Richie, Rich, Dick, Dicky, Dickie, Ritchie, Richy, Rick, Ritchy, Rico

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press. p. 381. ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  2. ^ "Richard". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  3. ^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  4. ^ M. Petrossian (ed.). New Dictionary Armenian-English. Librairie de Beyrouth. p. 772. Retrieved 23 March 2013.