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Rico

#1,805 in 2025Boys' name

Short form of Ricardo

Rico has been given to 9,971 babies in the U.S. since 1915. In 2025 it ranked #1,805 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1991, with 319 recorded.

Babies named Rico, 2025

1 in 37,200

Rico over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Rico: meaning, origin, and history

Short form of Ricardo

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Rico means

Rico is a short form of Ricardo.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Rico → Ricardo → Ricardo → *Rīkaharduz. The family’s meaning is “king, ruler + hard, brave”, recorded in Proto-Germanic with the source elements rīks and harduz.

Origin, language, and formation

Rico is used in English, Italian and Spanish.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Ricardo, Federico and Enrico.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Rico is pronounced /ˈɹiːkoʊ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 9,926 boys were recorded with the name Rico between 1915 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 319 in 1991; its best national rank was #436 in 1976.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,448 in 2020 to #1,805 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,403 in 2015 to #1,805 in 2025.

In the United States, 45 girls were recorded with the name Rico between 1970 and 1986. Its highest annual count was 10 in 1975; its best national rank was #5,715 in 1970.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Rico?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 37,200
89 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 19,200
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,805
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
25,820 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Rico sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5001%

Put another way: gather 25,820 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Rico. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Ricos were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Rico was born before 1990 — so the typical Rico is around 35 today.

Median birth year
1990
About 35 years old
Biggest decade
1970s
20.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
31.6%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
9,768
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1970s — 20.6% of all recorded uses (2,049).

Is Rico rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−110
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−357
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−402
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.72×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
27.9%
Peak was 1991 (319)
Years since peak
34
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
11.2% average annual change
Best rank ever
#436
1976

Spellings of Rico

Rico is not the most common spelling — Eric is, with 54.3% against Rico's 0.61%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Rico is used

Across 2016–2025, Rico was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 10,000 boys, against 1 in 16,577 across all states with data. It was least common in Pennsylvania (1 in 100,000).

110 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 10,000
  2. 2Florida1 in 11,111
  3. 3Texas1 in 11,111
  4. 4Ohio1 in 12,500
  5. 5Arizona1 in 14,286
  6. 6Georgia1 in 14,286
  7. 7Illinois1 in 20,000
  8. 8Louisiana1 in 20,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Rico around the world

Where Rico ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #563
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2001–2025
    #333
    in 2025
  • Ireland
    2014–2024
    #520
    in 2024
  • France
    1928–2022
    #4,276
    in 2022
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #3,231
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1956–2012
    #771
    in 2012

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Rico

People whose public names include Rico, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Rico by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,805
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 357
Best rank ever
#436
1976
Peak year
1991
319 that year
First recorded
1915
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
9,926
Count in 2025
89

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#5,715
1970
Peak year
1975
10 that year
First recorded
1970
Last recorded
1986
All-time count
45
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Rico

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

RichRichieRickieNicoRickRiccoRickeyRichyRickiEnricoRichmondRickyRicFedericoRicciAmericoRiceRiccardoRicardoDomenicoMicoChicoRicheyRichardo

Names with a curve like Rico

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Rico, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

LaronCedrickDeonTyronDedrickToryBrantKristoferShayneJadeArronGarrick

Sibling names for Rico

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Rico

Top names of 1991, Rico's peak yearThe 1990s in fullOther names that peaked in 1976Boys' names starting with R