Rik
A short form of the masculine Dutch name Hendrik meaning "ruler of the home".
Name Census estimates that about 252 living Americans carry the first name Rik. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rik today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rik births was 1958 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rik. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Rik with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
252
~ 1 in 1,360,136 Americans
Peak year
1958
18 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
2022 SSA rank
#13,899
Tracked since 1950
Census
Rik in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 577 people with the first name Rik, which placed it at #18,616 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
#18,616
National first-name rank
People counted
577
577 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rik
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rik is White at 67.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (12.7%) and Hispanic (10.1%). 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 Rik 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 Rik at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.6% · 390
- Asian and Pacific Islander12.7% · 73
- Hispanic or Latino10.1% · 58
- Black or African American4.5% · 26
- Two or more races4.3% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 5
Popularity
Rik: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rik from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 78 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rik 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 Rik during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rik
The given name Rik has its origins in the Dutch and Scandinavian languages. In Dutch, it is a diminutive form of the name Hendrik, which is derived from the Germanic name Hariric, meaning "ruler of the army" or "army ruler." This Germanic name is composed of the elements hari (army) and ric (ruler or power).
In Scandinavian languages, such as Swedish and Norwegian, Rik is also a diminutive form of the name Henrik, which has the same origin as the Dutch Hendrik. The name Henrik was brought to Scandinavia during the Viking Age and became popular in the region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rik can be found in the Icelandic sagas, which were written in the 13th and 14th centuries. In these sagas, the name Rik is mentioned as a character name, indicating its use in the region during that time period.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Rik. One of the earliest was Rik Blommendael (c. 1400-1479), a Dutch painter and sculptor active in the 15th century. He is known for his contributions to the Northern Renaissance art movement.
Another notable figure was Rik Smits (1658-1735), a Dutch Golden Age painter who specialized in still life and genre paintings. His works are celebrated for their intricate details and realistic depictions of everyday life.
In the field of literature, Rik Launspach (1870-1943) was a Dutch writer and poet who gained recognition for his contributions to the Tachtigers movement, which sought to modernize Dutch literature and poetry in the late 19th century.
Rik Hochstenbach (1914-1972) was a Dutch composer and pianist who played a significant role in the development of modern classical music in the Netherlands. His compositions were influenced by various styles, including serialism and neoclassicism.
Lastly, Rik Mayall (1958-2014) was a British comedian, writer, and actor, best known for his roles in popular television shows such as "The Young Ones" and "Bottom." He left an indelible mark on British comedy and is remembered for his unique and irreverent comedic style.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Rik, illustrating its enduring presence across various cultures and historical periods.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Rik
People
Rik + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rik 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
Rik: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rik?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 252 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rik 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 1,360,136 US residents.
Is Rik a common name?
We classify Rik as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 288 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rik most popular?
The single biggest year for Rik was 1958, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rik is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rik in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 577 people with the name Rik, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,616 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 Rik 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 Rik?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rik leans strongly male. 570 people counted with this name were male (97.6%), compared with 14 female bearers (2.4%). 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 Rik?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rik is White at 67.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (12.7%) and Hispanic (10.1%). 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 Rik most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rik in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.6% (390 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 Rik in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rik a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rik 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 Rik still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rik 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 Rik 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 people have the name Rik?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.