Holding steady.
Popularity of Rector since 1912
Babies named Rector per year in U.S. Social Security records. Raw births topped out in 1920, but relative to how few babies were recorded back then, Rector's real moment was 1912.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1910s | 52 |
| 1920s | 44 |
| 1930s | 0 |
| 1940s | 5 |
| 1950s | 0 |
| 1960s | 0 |
| 1970s | 0 |
| 1980s | 0 |
| 1990s | 0 |
| 2000s | 0 |
| 2010s | 0 |
| 2020s | 0 |
Meaning & origin
Rector is an exceedingly rare given name in the United States, first appearing in Social Security records in 1912 with a peak usage that same year, at which point it had a 1-in-n incidence of effectively zero given the minuscule count. The name has remained stable at extremely low usage since then, never rising above a few births annually. While it has never been associated with any particular state or region, it echoes the surnames-as-first-names trend of the early 1900s. Its etymology is ambiguous: it may be an occupational name for a church rector, from Latin 'rector', or a variant of the Germanic 'Rihhard' (Richard). The name's rarity gives it a distinctive, old-fashioned feel.
Rector derives from Middle English, either as an occupational surname for a church rector, from Latin 'rector' meaning 'ruler' or 'governor', or possibly from the Old Germanic personal name 'Rihhard' (composed of 'ric' for 'power' and 'hard' for 'hardy'). It has seen rare use as a given name, primarily in the early 20th century.
Sibling names for Rector
Names that share Rector's style, for a brother or sister.
