How Many People Are Named Ricky Nelson?
There are approximately 261 people named Ricky Nelson living in the United States today. That makes this name combination uncommon, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 1,313,235 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Ricky with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Nelson. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census background data where it is available.
Estimated People with This Name
261
1 in 1,313,235 Americans
Combination Rarity
Uncommon
First Name
View full profileRicky
Last Name
View full profileNelson
Ricky: Popularity Over Time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Ricky. The peak year was 1958 with 13,422 births. The average person named Ricky today is 56 years old.
Ancestry of the First Name Ricky
In the 2020 Census, the first name Ricky was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (65.26%). The next largest recorded groups were Black (16.78%) and Hispanic (9.84%).
These percentages describe the people who had the first name Ricky in the 2020 Census. They do not tell you the deeper origin or meaning of the name itself.
Read this as a snapshot of who already had the name in 2020, not as a trend line. The SSA chart above is still the better way to see how Ricky rose or fell over time.
Ancestry of the Nelson Surname
The surname Nelson was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White in the 2020 Census.
This is a self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people who had the surname Nelson in the published Census surname tables. It gives useful context around who was recorded with the name, but it does not tell the full family history of every Boone line.
How we calculated this
The first name "Ricky" has an estimated frequency of 0.0554% among living Americans, based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024 adjusted for mortality using CDC 2023 life tables.
The surname "Nelson" appears at a rate of 137.44 per 100,000 people in the 2020 U.S. Census.
We do not use the Census first-name snapshot for the main estimate because it is only published once every 10 years. The latest public first-name Census file is from 2020, which is already 6 years old. SSA birth records plus CDC survival data give a better current estimate of how many people with the first name Ricky are likely to be alive now.
Multiplying these frequencies against the U.S. population of ~343 million gives 261 estimated people. This assumes first names and last names are statistically independent. Full methodology.
Other people named Ricky
Other people with the surname Nelson
Ricky Nelson: Questions and Answers
How many people are named Ricky Nelson?
We estimate approximately 261 people named Ricky Nelson are alive in the United States today. The first name Ricky is shared by 189,760 Americans, and the surname Nelson is shared by 471,076.
How rare is the name Ricky Nelson?
This name combination is classified as Uncommon, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 1,313,235 Americans. The first name Ricky is common and the surname Nelson is common.
Is Ricky a male or female name?
Ricky is predominantly male, with 99.1% of bearers being male and 0.9% female. It peaked in popularity in 1958 and the average bearer today is 56 years old.
What does the Census say about the first name Ricky?
In the 2020 Census, the first name Ricky was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (65.26%). The next largest recorded groups were Black (16.78%) and Hispanic (9.84%). These percentages describe the people who had the name in the 2020 Census, not the deeper origin of the name itself.
Where does this data come from?
First name data comes from the Social Security Administration (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables. When available, first-name Census background data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau first-name tables. Surname data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau. Full methodology.
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