The American Surnames book by Elsdon C. Smith (1997):  "Rich man, poor man, beggarman, thief," the children's fortune-telling rhyme runs, and the man who stood out in the village by reason of his wealth might acquire the name.  The first ones in England called Rich and Richman had names referring to wealth, although in later times these names blended with the familiar pet forms of Richard.  The Irish bestowed the name Mooney to a wealthy man.

The House of Names site reflects Rich name variation of Riche and is of English origin.  First found in Hampshire where they were seated from very early times and were granted lands by Duke William of Normandy, their liege Lord, for their distinguished assistance at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D. Some of the first settlers of this name or some of its variants were: Edward and Elizabeth Rich settled in Virginia in 1663, along with Miles, Joseph, Abraham; Robert Rich settled in the Barbados in 1680, with his wife, children, and servants. 

The Last Name Meanings site reflects the Rich name is of Saxon origin and is short for Richard.  The name means: Of a powerful, rich, or generous disposition, from ric, rich, and ard, nature or disposition.

I have traced my Rich line back to John Horace Rich who married Elizabeth Davis.  John was born in 1772 in North Carolina and died in 1817 Adams Co., Ohio.    To learn more about this Rich line, click on the 'My Rich Family History' button below.

My Rich genealogy data on this site is work in progress, so please contact me if you have any information that might help me in my research.  Not all data on my site has been proven by myself, so please just use this data as a spring board for your research and let me know if you believe my data is incorrect.

Please contact me if you are related to anyone in my Rich line, I love hearing from new cousins.