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Last name origins & meanings:

  1. English, French, German, and Dutch: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements rīc ‘power(ful)’ + hard ‘hardy’, ‘brave’, ‘strong’.
  2. A Richard from Normandy is documented in Quebec City in 1669, with the secondary surname <xref>Lavallee</xref>; other branches came from the Saintonge region and Poitou, France. Other secondary surnames include Des Sablons, <xref>Dusablon</xref>, <xref>Lafleur</xref>, La Richardière, <xref>Larose</xref>, <xref>Petrus</xref>. The LA Richard families are mainly descended from Acadian refugees in the second half of the 18th century.

This name appears in the following lists: Composers, Poets, Nobel Prize Winners, Opera Singers, Presidents' Kids, U.S. Presidents