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Rica
How to Pronounce Rica
Pronounced REE-kah /Λri.kΙ/High
Meaning: Rica is a clipped pet form of longer names such as Erica (Old Norse, 'ever-ruler' or 'eternal ruler') and Frederica (Germanic, 'peaceful ruler'). Used on its own as a given name, it keeps the crisp final syllable of its parents.Low
Popularity in the U.S. Β· SSA data
U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880βpresent). Pink marker = peak year.
SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.
History & Origin
Rica is a diminutive drawn from names ending in -rica, most often Erica (from Old Norse, 'ever-ruler') and Frederica (Germanic, 'peaceful ruler'). Short forms like this were sometimes registered as the legal name in their own right, especially once mid-century American parents warmed to informal, nickname-style birth names.
It never gathered any real momentum on the US charts, drawing only a few dozen girls a year even at its faint peak around 1991 and remaining scattered thinly across the decades. It reads today as a rare, snappy alternative to Erica rather than a name with its own trend.
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Frequently Asked
What does the name Rica mean?
Rica is a short form of Erica or Frederica, carrying their 'ruler' meaning from Old Norse and Germanic roots.
How do you pronounce Rica?
It's said REE-kah /Λri.kΙ/ β two syllables, stress on the first.
Is Rica a boy or girl name?
Rica is used as a girl's name.
How popular is Rica?
Rica has always been quite rare, used here and there through the twentieth century as a short form of Erica rather than a name with its own wave.