Richard Petty
There are approximately 186 people named Richard Petty living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 1,842,765 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Richard with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Petty. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
186
1 in 1,842,765
Named Richard
1.6M
Alive today
Named Petty
41K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 1.6M
Rarity: Very Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1946
Average age: 62
Estimated bearers: 41K
Rarity: Uncommon
Census rank: #1,005
Per 100K: 11.83
Top ancestry: White (73.4%)
First name trend
Richard: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Richard. The peak year was 1946 with 58,991 births. The average person named Richard today is 62 years old.
Babies born per year
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Petty surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Petty, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 73.4%.
- White73.4%
- Black or African American21.0%
- Hispanic or Latino2.4%
- Two or more races2.2%
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5%
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5%
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Richard has a living-bearer frequency of 0.4576% of the US population, based on 1,568,549 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
The surname Petty appears at a rate of 11.83 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0118%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 186 people with the full name Richard Petty. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Richard
Related
Other people with the surname Petty
FAQ
Richard Petty: questions and answers
How many people are named Richard Petty?
We estimate approximately 186 people in the United States share the full name Richard Petty. That works out to about 1 in 1,842,765 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.4576%) with the surname frequency (11.83 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Richard Petty?
We classify Richard Petty as "Very Rare". About 1 in 1,842,765 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Richard a male or female name?
Richard is predominantly male. Out of 2,585,535 total SSA registrations, 99.6% were male and 0.4% were female. See the full Richard profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.