The Rickard Family Name

Ask a genealogist about Rickard and the first name they will mention is Richard. Surname dictionaries give the meaning as “Brave ruler”. Spelled with “k” instead of “h”, Rickard shows how the same name was heard and written differently. Local scribes, dialects and emigration all left their mark on how the name was written. The same family of names includes Ricard, Richardt and Reachard.

According to the 2010 US Census, the Rickard surname had 9,128 bearers. That puts it inside the top 5,000 US surnames. Similar-sounding surnames on Herald Lab: Ricardi.

Arms linked to Richard and its spellings were granted to individual families; our heraldry team traces which line they belonged to. Get the complete Rickard report, with a museum-style coat of arms.