Richard

The name derives from Germanic elements meaning ruler and brave. The Normans introduced it to England in the eleventh century, where three medieval monarchs turned it into an enduring fixture of the realm. English colonists brought it to North America, where it spent most of the twentieth century functioning as standard civic infrastructure.

The name reads today as fully grown, practical, and indifferent to trends. With the average living bearer sitting squarely at age sixty, a Richard tends to be pictured holding a clipboard, adjusting a sprinkler head, or signing a contract in blue ink. Baby Boomers account for forty-five percent of those still carrying it, lending the name the quiet permanence of a mid-century brick ranch house. It sounds less like someone being called for dinner and more like someone being paged over an airport intercom.