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The surname Rich

A patronymic surname, carried by 49,481 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ɹɪt͡ʃ/ 1 syllable Soundex R200 Also a first name

Rich: #696 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#10,001Dubon Rich #696, 49,481 people Rich: #696 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Rich #696, 49,481 people
Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Rich is more common than 99.6% of them.

Origin

From Richard. The surname also derives from rich as a nickname.

Rich is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 49,481 people named Rich in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 6,240 Americans. That is up 4.2% since 2000, when the Census counted 47,477.

#696
rank among US surnames
49,481
people in 2010
17
per 100,000 Americans
+4.2%
change since 2000 (was #654)
RankSurnamePeople1 in
#687Arellano50,1046,162
#688Melton50,0696,166
#689O'Neill50,0286,171
#690Savage49,9146,186
#691Ho49,8176,198
#692Beltran49,7766,203
#693Pitts49,7406,207

Who is named Rich

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

85% of people named Rich identified as white (not Hispanic), 9.3% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

  • White (not Hispanic) 85%
  • Black (not Hispanic) 9.3%
  • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
  • Two or more races 1.9%
  • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%
  • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Richs

25 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

  • Adrienne Rich
    American poet, essayist and feminist (1929–2012)
  • Buddy Rich
    American jazz drummer and bandleader (1917–1987)
  • Marc Rich
    American commodities trader (1934–2013)
  • Irene Rich
    American actress (1891-1988)
  • Charlie Rich
    American country singer (1932–1995)
  • Adam Rich
    American actor (1968–2023)
  • Christopher Rich
    American actor, born 1953
  • Allan Rich
    American actor (1926–2020)
  • Claudius James Rich
    British business agent, traveller and antiquarian (1787-1821)
  • Richard Rich
    American film director, born 1951
  • Leslie Rich
    American swimmer, Olympic bronze medalist (1886-1969)
  • Vivian Rich
    Actress (1893-1957)

Notable Richs come mostly from the United States (22), Spain (1) and the Kingdom of Great Britain (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Rich

Rich has the Soundex code R200, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code R200.

Questions

Where does the surname Rich come from?
From Richard. The surname also derives from rich as a nickname.
How common is the surname Rich?
49,481 people in the United States had the surname Rich in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 6,240 Americans. It ranked 696th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Rich?
In the 2010 Census, 85% of people named Rich identified as white (not Hispanic), and 9.3% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Rich?
Adrienne Rich, American poet, essayist and feminist (1929–2012), followed by Buddy Rich.
Where is the surname Rich most common?
Wikidata records people named Rich in the United States, Spain and the Kingdom of Great Britain and 1 other country.
How do you pronounce Rich?
Rich is /ɹɪt͡ʃ/, one syllable.
What type of surname is Rich?
Rich is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Rich getting more or less common?
More common. 47,477 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 49,481 in 2010, up 4.2%.
Is Rich also a first name?
Yes. Rich is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.