Surname Rickenbach - Meaning and Origin
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Rickenbach: What does the surname Rickenbach mean?
Rickenbach is a German surname that originates from the name of a town in Switzerland. It is a topographic surname, a type of surname that was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. "Ricken" could be a variation of "Rücken," which means "back" – possibly referring to a ridge or hill back, while "bach" translates to "stream" or "creek" in English. Therefore, Rickenbach could be interpreted to mean "stream by the ridge" or "creek by the hill." As surnames often served to help identify where an individual came from, someone bearing the last name Rickenbach likely had ancestors who lived in or near this region.
Order DNA origin analysisRickenbach: Where does the name Rickenbach come from?
The surname Rickenbach is a toponymic surname, meaning it was originally derived from the name of a place where the original bearer of the surname once lived. The name likely refers to the many villages, hamlets, and farms called Rickenbach in German-speaking Switzerland and Germany, particularly in the German-Swiss canton of Bern.
Today, the surname Rickenbach is most common in German-speaking Switzerland, particularly in the canton of Bern, where more than one in every thousand people bears the name. It is also relatively common in the German states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, and North Rhine-Westphalia, where it is found in the range of one person out of every 10-30 thousand.
Outside of Germany and Switzerland, Rickenbach is a very rare name. It is mainly found in the United States, where it is mainly concentrated in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Illinois. It is also found in Canada, particularly in the province of Quebec, where some immigrants from German-speaking Switzerland might have settled in the 19th century. In total, about 1400 people in the world bear the name today.
Variations of the surname Rickenbach
There are many variants, spellings, and surnames which share a common origin with the surname Rickenbach. One variant of the surname is Richenbacher, which is a shortening of both Rickenbach and Richenbach. Other spellings include Rykenbach, Rickenbacher, Rickanbach and Ryckenbach, while the German alternative is Reichenbach. Some other surname spellings which come from the same origin as Rickenbach are Rikkenbach, Riekenbach, Rechenbach, Rickerbach, Reicenbach, Richembach, and Richembech. Variations of the surname also include Rickenberger,Rickenberg, Richenberger, Richenberger, Richenburg, Richtenburg, Ricktenburg, Rikkenburg, Reickenberg, and Reickenburg.
One variation of Rickenbach which is particularly common is Rickenbacker, which has sometimes been used interchangeably with Rickenbach. This derivation of the surname comes from the German term 'Reichenbacker', which is itself derived from 'Reichenbach'. It became widely used in the US, after US airman Eddie Rickenbacker adopted it as his surname. Other common variations include Rickenbaker, Rickenbarger, and Richenbaker.
The surname Rickenbach has been commonly found in Switzerland and throughout South German and Austria, with its variants and variants of its origin existing in various parts of Europe, as well as in North America.
Famous people with the name Rickenbach
- Ella Rickenbach: Swiss alpine skier
- Jack Rickenbach: former mayor of Santa Ana, CA
- Harvey Rickenbach: former CEO of J.C. Penney Company
- Kristin Rickenbach: professional German basketball player
- Carrano Rickenbach: Brazilian professional footballer
- Randy Rickenbach: Major League Baseball player for the San Francisco Giants
- Kurt Rickenbach: retired Swiss footballer
- Joey Rickenbach: professional Canadian football player
- Ralf Rickenbach: former German ice hockey player
- Gehard Rickenbach: Swiss artist and professor of the Hochschule der Künste Bern