Rice
Usually an Anglicized Welsh surname from Rhys, meaning “ardent” or “fiery.”
The #184 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 2,065 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In the Welsh tradition, Rice is an Anglicized form of Rhys, a very old Welsh personal name. The Welsh name is generally taken to mean something like “ardour,” “enthusiasm,” or “fiery spirit,” though early sources often glossed it more loosely. In English records, Rice can also reflect the common spelling shift from Welsh Ap Rhys or Ab Rhys, meaning “son of Rhys,” with the initial consonants merged into a single surname form.
History
19th-century surname writers usually treated Rice as a Welsh name, and some explicitly linked it to forms such as Rees, Reece, and Price. The name appears in medieval and early modern English records in Welsh contexts, where the same person might be written as Rice, Rees, or Rhys. Lower also noted a minority view that some English Rice families may instead connect with Richard, but he thought the Welsh derivation was the better explanation overall.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Early Oxford records could spell the same Welsh student both Rice and Rise, showing how fluid surname spelling could be before standardization.
From the historical record
“RICARDS,RiCARD's(Son);v. Ricard, Richard. RICCARD, v. Ricard, Richard. RICE, an Anglicized form of Rhys, q.v. ' Cp. Reece, Rees(e. In the i6th-cent. Registers of Oxford , Univ. the same Welsh student is called indifferently- Rice and Rise Powell. RICH (Teut. and Fr.-Teut.) i Wealthy, Powerful, Mighty [M.E. riche…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)