Ricardo

The Spanish and Portuguese form of Richard, Ricardo carries the same Germanic roots, ric, ruler, and hard, brave, through a Latinate softening that trades the English king for the telenovela leading man. The name belonged to a line of Spanish nobility and, in the twentieth century, to Lucille Ball's bandleader husband Ricky Ricardo, who lodged the name permanently in American pop memory. It holds a steady mid-range U.S. rank, strongest in Latino families. Three measured syllables with a rolled R at the center. Ricardo reads charming and self-assured, the kind of name that enters a room before its owner does.