Richard
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name, an English and French type variant of Rikard.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Richard (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Richard has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 1999. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 65 |
| 1999 | 76 |
| 2000 | 64 |
| 2001 | 33 |
| 2002 | 47 |
| 2003 | 38 |
| 2004 | 27 |
| 2005 | 21 |
| 2006 | 24 |
| 2007 | 12 |
| 2008 | 11 |
| 2009 | 12 |
| 2010 | 8 |
| 2011 | 4 |
| 2012 | 11 |
| 2013 | 13 |
| 2014 | 9 |
| 2015 | 10 |
| 2016 | 15 |
| 2017 | 7 |
| 2018 | 5 |
| 2019 | 8 |
| 2020 | 8 |
| 2021 | 6 |
| 2022 | 5 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 8,153 |
| 2000 | 8,264 |
| 2001 | 8,373 |
| 2002 | 8,471 |
| 2003 | 8,599 |
| 2004 | 8,690 |
| 2005 | 8,687 |
| 2006 | 8,799 |
| 2007 | 8,816 |
| 2008 | 8,897 |
| 2009 | 8,938 |
| 2010 | 8,950 |
| 2011 | 8,943 |
| 2012 | 8,993 |
| 2013 | 9,009 |
| 2014 | 9,029 |
| 2015 | 9,044 |
| 2016 | 9,079 |
| 2017 | 9,110 |
| 2018 | 9,097 |
| 2019 | 9,099 |
| 2020 | 9,086 |
Richard in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Richard.Hi! My name is Richard.
- Richard har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Richard has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Vet du om Richard kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Richard is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Richards mamma är lärare.Richard's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Richards mamma is Richard's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Richard
How do you pronounce Richard in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Richard from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Richard mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name, an English and French type variant of Rikard.
How popular is Richard in Sweden?
5 babies were named Richard in 2022. In 2020, 9,086 people in Sweden had Richard as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 1999 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.