Richard

See also: Richárd and richard

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɪt͡ʃ.əd/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɪt͡ʃ.ɚd/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

Etymology 1

From Middle English Rycharde, from Old French Richard, from Medieval Latin Richardus and Ricohardus, from Frankish *Rīkahard, from Proto-Germanic *Rīkaharduz, a construction of *rīks (“king, ruler”) +‎ *harduz (“hard, brave”). Cognate with Old High German Rīcohard (“Richard”). A hypothetical Old English equivalent *Rī‌ċheard would also yield an identical "Richard" in Modern English, though it is unknown if the Old English equivalent existed.

Proper noun

Richard (plural Richards)

1. A male given name from the Germanic languages.
   • c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:

     What! do I fear myself? there's no one else by; / Richard loves Richard; that is, I am I.

   • 1629, Thomas Adams, Meditations upon Creed: The Works of Thomas Adams, James Nichol (1862), volume 3, page 212:

     But we have known Williams and Richards, names not found in sacred story, but familiar to our country, prove as gracious saints as any Safe deliverance, Fight the good fight of faith, or such like,

   • 1985, William Wharton, Pride, →ISBN, page 97:

     I'd love to live in our castle. First I'd change my name from Dickie to Richard. That's my real name and it's a good king name. I don't like being called Dickie anyway, and I don't want to be Dick Junior either because everybody starts calling you Junior. What I'd like to be called is Rich but I don't know how to start people doing it.

   • 2023 May 24, Sandee LaMotte, “Can a daily multivitamin slow cognitive aging? Maybe”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     While the less-than-a-word improvement was statistically significant, it would be hard to tell if such a small change would improve a person’s life, said Alzheimer’s disease researcher Dr. Richard Isaacson, a preventive neurologist at the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases of Florida.

2. (rare compared to given name) A surname originating as a patronymic.

   Martin Richard was the youngest of three people killed by explosions at the Boston Marathon in 2013.

Derived terms

• King Richard
• Preston Richard
• Richard's Castle

Related terms

diminutives

• Dick
• Dickey
• Dickie
• Dicky
• Hick
• Rich
• Richie
• Richy
• Rick
• Rickey
• Ricki
• Ricky

surnames

• Dick
• Dickason
• Dickel
• Dicken
• Dickens
• Dickenson
• Dickerson
• Dickeson
• Dickey
• Dickie
• Dickin
• Dickings
• Dickins
• Dickinson
• Dickison
• Dickman
• Dicks
• Dickson
• Digg
• Diggen
• Diggens
• Digges
• Diggin
• Diggins
• Diggle
• Diggles
• Diggs
• Digman
• Dix
• Dixey
• Dixie
• Dixon
• Dixson
• Hedgcock
• Hedgcox
• Hedgecock
• Hedgecox
• Hichen
• Hichens
• Hichin
• Hichins
• Hick
• Hickam
• Hickcox
• Hicken
• Hickerson
• Hickes
• Hickin
• Hicking
• Hicklin
• Hickling
• Hickman
• Hickmon
• Hickock
• Hickok
• Hicks
• Hickson
• Higgens
• Higgin
• Higgins
• Higginson
• Higgitt
• Higgon
• Higgs
• Higson
• Hiscock
• Hiscocks
• Hiscoke
• Hiscott
• Hiscox
• Hiskett
• Hitch
• Hitchcock
• Hitchcott
• Hitchcox
• Hitchen
• Hitchens
• Hitches
• Hitchin
• Hitching
• Hitchings
• Hitchins
• Hitchinson
• Hitchon
• Hixon
• Icke
• McRitchie
• Prichard
• Pritchard
• Reacher
• Rich
• Richards
• Richardson
• Richarson
• Richerson
• Riches
• Richesin
• Richeson
• Richey
• Richie
• Richins
• Richison
• Richson
• Richy
• Richyson
• Rick
• Rickard
• Rickards
• Rickerd
• Rickers
• Rickert
• Rickett
• Ricketts
• Ricks
• Rickson
• Ritch
• Ritcheson
• Ritchey
• Ritchie
• Ritchison
• Ritchson
• Ritson
• Rix
• Rixon

Translations

male given name

• Albanian: Rikárdi m, Riçárdi m, Rihárdi m
• Amharic: ሪቻርድ (ričard)
• Arabic: رِيتْشَارْد m (ritšard)

  Egyptian Arabic: ريتشارد m (ritšard)

• Armenian: Ռիչարդ (Ṙičʻard)
• Azerbaijani: Riçard
• Basque: Rikard
• Belarusian: Ры́чард m (Rýčard)
• Bengali: রিচার্ড (bn) (richārd)
• Breton: Richarzh (br)
• Bulgarian: Ри́чард m (Ríčard), Ри́хард m (Ríhard)
• Catalan: Ricard (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 理查德 (zh) (Lǐchádé) (from English), 里夏爾 / 里夏尔 (Lǐxiàěr) (from French), 里夏德 (Lǐxiàdé) (from German)

• Czech: Richard (cs) m
• Danish: Richard m, Rikard m
• Dutch: Richard (nl) m, Rijkert m, Rikkert m
• Esperanto: Rikardo
• Estonian: Richard, Riho
• Finnish: Rikhard (fi), Riku (fi)
• French: Richard (fr) m
• Georgian: რიჩარდ (ričard), რიხარდ (rixard)
• German: Richard (de) m, Rikard m
• Greek: (historical figures) Ριχάρδος (el) m (Richárdos), Ρίτσαρντ (el) m (Rítsarnt)
• Gujarati: રિચાર્ડ (gu) (ricārḍ)
• Hawaiian: Likeke
• Hebrew: ריצ׳רד m (ritshard)
• Hindi: रिचर्ड m (ricarḍ)
• Hungarian: Richárd (hu)
• Icelandic: Ríkharður (is) m
• Inuktitut: ᕆᑦᓴᕐᑦ (ritsart)
• Irish: Risteard m
• Italian: Riccardo (it) m
• Japanese: リチャード (Richādo)
• Korean: 리차드 (Richadeu)
• Latin: Richardus m
• Latvian: Rihards m, Ričards m
• Lithuanian: Ričardas (lt) m
• Macedonian: Ри́чард m (Ríčard)
• Maori: Rihari
• Marathi: रिचर्ड m (ricarḍa)
• Norman: R'chard m
• Norwegian: Rikard m, Richard (no) m
• Old English: Rī‌ċheard
• Persian: ریچارد (ričârd)
• Polish: Ryszard (pl) m
• Portuguese: Ricardo (pt) m
• Romanian: Riciard m, Riciardu m
• Russian: Ри́чард (ru) m (Ríčard), (French) Риша́р (ru) m (Rišár), (German) Ри́хард (ru) m (Ríxard)
• Scottish Gaelic: Ruiseart
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Рикард m

  Roman: Rikard m

• Slovak: Richard m
• Slovene: Rihard (sl) m
• Spanish: Ricardo (es) m
• Swedish: Rikard (sv) m, Rickard (sv) m, Richard (sv) m
• Ukrainian: Рі́чард m (Ríčard)
• Urdu: رچرڈ m (ricarḍ)
• Vietnamese: Richớt
• Welsh: Rhisiart

Etymology 2

Clipping of Richard III (Richard the Third).

Noun

Richard (plural Richards)

1. (Cockney rhyming slang, mildly vulgar) A turd.

Cebuano

Etymology

From English Richard, from Middle English Rycharde, from Old French Richard, from Medieval Latin Richardus and Ricohardus, from Frankish *Rīkahard, from Proto-Germanic *Rīkaharduz, a construction of *rīks (“king, ruler”) +‎ *harduz (“hard, brave”).

Proper noun

Richard

1. a male given name from English [in turn from the Germanic languages]
   • 2010 — Maningo, Alcea, Ang Nitugpa sa Atop (04 November), Sugilanon, Kalingawan, Banat News

     Daw may usa ka bloke nga hollowblock nga nahulog gikan sa panganod ug nitugpa sa sin nga atop sa tindahan. Nakurat ang lima ka mga estambay sa tindahan. Daling nanindog sila si Alex Tudtud, Richard Dagoc, Jomar Suprema, Romeo Brusas ug Jerome Bertes.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2011 April 4, Tubilan, Joseph Elvir C, “Way Nakakita”, in SuperBalita Cebu:

     Si Richard Ian Bruce Bansuan, testigo sa Task Force Ella Joy, nihisgot sa korte kagahapon sa gihimong husay sa motion to quash search warrant nga nakit-an niya ang langyaw dihang nagmaneho siya sa motorsiklo kuyog si Ligaya Escultos.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 2012 — Suarez, Lloyd, Pamutos na Lang, Warden Manansala (13 June), Super Hirit, Cebu Daily News

     Pagkabakakon gyud ni Richard Cabornay Baculi kinsa maoy nagmaneho sa motorsiklo nga “Yamaha Meo” nga maoy ilang gisakyan uban sa iyang ig-agaw nga napatay ni PO2 Lea Juarez nga si Rael Alex Tajanlangit Cabornay alias “Nano” gikan nga mitulis ni Reychel Alvizo Juntar.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Chinese

Etymology

From English Richard, which resembles the pronunciation of 碌柒 (luk¹ cat⁶, “dickhead; idiot”). Probably popularised by The God of Cookery (quoted below).

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): wit¹ cat⁴

---

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: wit¹ cat⁴
    • Yale: wīt chàht
    • Cantonese Pinyin: wit⁷ tsat⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: wid¹ ced⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /wiːt̚⁵ t͡sʰɐt̚²¹/

Noun

Richard

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, minced oath, euphemistic) synonym of 碌柒
   • 1996, 食神 [The God of Cookery], spoken by 史提芬周 [Stephen Chow] (周星馳 [Stephen Chow]):

     咦，Richard好Richard喎！受過高等教育定啦！ [Cantonese, trad.]
     咦，Richard好Richard㖞！受过高等教育定啦！ [Cantonese, simp.]

     ji², wit¹ cat⁴ hou² wit¹ cat⁴ wo³! sau⁶ gwo³ gou¹ dang² gaau³ juk⁶ ding^6-2 laa³! [Jyutping]

     Hey Dick, you look like a dick! You must have received higher education!

Czech

Pronunciation

• (Czech Republic) IPA^(key): [ˈrɪxart]

Proper noun

Richard m anim

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Richard

Declension

Declension of Richard (hard masculine animate)

	singular	plural
nominative	Richard	Richardové
genitive	Richarda	Richardů
dative	Richardovi, Richardu	Richardům
accusative	Richarda	Richardy
vocative	Richarde	Richardové
locative	Richardovi, Richardu	Richardech
instrumental	Richardem	Richardy

Related terms

• Ríša

Danish

Proper noun

Richard

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Richard

Estonian

Proper noun

Richard

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Richard

Related terms

• Rihard
• Riho

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁi.ʃaʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio; “chapelle Saint-Sixte de Puy-Richard”:

  (file)

Proper noun

Richard m

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Richard
2. a surname originating as a patronymic

German

Pronunciation

• (Germany) IPA^(key): /ˈʁɪçaɐ̯t/
• (Austria, Switzerland) IPA^(key): /ˈrɪçart/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Proper noun

Richard

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Richard

Kashubian

Etymology

Borrowed from German Richard.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈri.xart/
• Rhymes: -ixart
• Syllabification: Ri‧chard

Proper noun

Richard m pers

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Richard

Further reading

• Jan Trepczyk (1994), “Ryszard”, in Słownik polsko-kaszubski (in Kashubian), volumes 1–2
• Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011), “Ryszard”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎^[2]

Norwegian

Proper noun

Richard

1. a male given name, the usual modern form of Rikard

Occitan

Proper noun

Richard m (Limousin)

1. a male given name

Further reading

• Yves Lavalade (2010), Dictionnaire d'usage occitan/français - Limousin, Marche, Périgord (in French), Institut d'Estudis Occitans dau Lemosin, →ISBN; page 496

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrixart/

Proper noun

Richard m pers

1. a male given name, equivalent to English Richard

Declension

Declension of Richard
(pattern chlap)

	singular	plural
nominative	Richard	Richardovia
genitive	Richarda	Richardov
dative	Richardovi	Richardom
accusative	Richarda	Richardov
locative	Richardovi	Richardoch
instrumental	Richardom	Richardmi

Derived terms

• Richard Ľvie Srdce m
• Riško m

Further reading

• “Richard”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English Richard. Doublet of Ricardo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrit͡ʃaɾd/ [ˈri.t͡ʃaɾð̞]
  • Rhymes: -itʃaɾd
• IPA^(key): /ɹɪt͡ʃɚd/ [ɹɪt͡ʃɚð̞]
• Syllabification: Ri‧chard

Proper noun

Richard m

1. a male given name from English

Swedish

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Richard c (genitive Richards)

1. a male given name, an English and French type variant of Rikard

References

• [3] Statistiska centralbyrån and Sture Allén, Staffan Wåhlin, Förnamnsboken, Norstedts 1995, →ISBN: 17 105 males with the given name Richard (compared to 10 124 named Rikard and 22 341 named Rickard) living in Sweden on December 31st, 2010, with the frequency peak in the 1980s. Accessed on 19 June 2011.