Rider
One who travels on horseback, a mounted equestrian.
Name Census estimates that about 1,249 living Americans carry the first name Rider. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rider today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rider births was 2014 (71 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rider. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Rider is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 274,423 Americans
Peak year
2014
71 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,284
Tracked since 1993
Census
Rider in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,466 people with the first name Rider, which placed it at #9,467 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#9,467
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,466 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rider
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rider is White at 72.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.4%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Rider described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Rider at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.8% · 1,067
- Hispanic or Latino16.4% · 240
- Two or more races5.8% · 85
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 26
- Black or African American1.6% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 24
Popularity
Rider: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rider from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 549 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rider by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Rider during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Riders live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Rider, while Utah, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 35 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rider
The name Rider is of English origin, derived from the occupational surname referring to someone who rode horses or provided transportation services. It first emerged during the Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century.
The name Rider is believed to have its roots in the Old English word "ridere," which meant "mounted rider" or "horseman." This occupation was essential in medieval times when horses were the primary mode of transportation and played a crucial role in warfare and trade.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rider can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appeared as a surname, indicating its occupational origins.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the first name Rider. One of the earliest recorded figures was Rider Haggard (1856-1925), a renowned English writer best known for his adventure novels set in colonial Africa, such as "King Solomon's Mines" and "She."
Another prominent figure was Rider Branden (1901-1986), an American psychologist and writer who made significant contributions to the field of self-esteem and self-acceptance. His works, including "The Psychology of Self-Esteem," have had a lasting impact on personal development literature.
In the realm of sports, Rider Dickerson (1888-1949) was an American baseball player who played as an outfielder in the Major League Baseball from 1910 to 1918. He spent most of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs.
Rider McDowell (1858-1950) was an American painter and illustrator known for his landscapes and depictions of Native American life. His works are part of the collections of several prestigious museums, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Lastly, Rider Haggard (1938-2010), a British actor and writer, was known for his roles in television series such as "The Avengers" and "The Saint." He also authored several novels and screenplays throughout his career.
While the name Rider has maintained a consistent presence throughout history, its popularity has ebbed and flowed over time. Today, it remains a unique and distinctive name, often associated with its equestrian roots and a sense of adventure.
People
Rider + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rider as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rider: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rider?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,249 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rider going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 274,423 US residents.
Is Rider a common name?
We classify Rider as "Rare". It ranks above 91.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,262 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rider most popular?
The single biggest year for Rider was 2014, when 71 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rider is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rider in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,466 people with the name Rider, or 0.49 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,467 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Rider in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Rider?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rider leans strongly male. 1,433 people counted with this name were male (97.5%), compared with 36 female bearers (2.5%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Rider?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rider is White at 72.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.4%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Rider most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rider in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.8% (1,067 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Rider in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rider a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rider in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Rider still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rider in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Rider can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Rider?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.