Explore the Family Name Recht

The meaning of Recht

1. German: probably a habitational name from a place so named in the Rhineland. 2. German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for an upright person, from Middle High German reht, German recht ‘straight’. As a Jewish name it is mainly artificial. Some characteristic forenames: Jewish Emanuel, Mendel, Shoshi.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Recht in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Recht has experienced a decrease in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 38,706th and by 2010, it had dropped to 45,347th place, a decline of 17.16%. The count of individuals with this surname also decreased during this period from 537 to 472, a drop of 12.1%. Similarly, the proportion of people named Recht per 100,000 individuals saw a decline of 20%, moving from 0.2 in 2000 to 0.16 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#38,706	#45,347	-17.16%
Count	537	472	-12.1%
Proportion per 100k	0.2	0.16	-20%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Recht

Looking at the ethnic identity associated with the surname Recht, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that the majority identify as White, though the percentage decreased slightly from 96.65% in 2000 to 93.01% in 2010. Interestingly, there was a significant increase in those identifying as Hispanic, rising from 1.68% in 2000 to 2.97% in 2010, a change of 76.79%. A small percentage of people with the surname Recht started to identify as belonging to two or more races in 2010, while no individuals identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native during either census year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	96.65%	93.01%	-3.77%
Hispanic	1.68%	2.97%	76.79%
Two or More Races	0%	1.48%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%