The Rector surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 13,559 people carried this name — #2,661 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 21,700 people counted. About the same as in 2000 (13,609).

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Where the name comes from

The origin of the Rector surname

Americanized form of German Richter.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Rector» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

In print

Rector in Australian newspapers,
1820s–1990s.

3,075 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Rector. The most, 498, date from the 1910s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in Tasmania, at 1.7 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 1,015
Queensland 538
Victoria 452
Western Australia 404
Tasmania 360
South Australia 281
ACT (Canberra) 21
Northern Territory 3

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Rector.

Who carried it

People named Rector,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Henry Massey Rector
    Henry Massey Rector 1816–1899 · lawyer
  • Henry Massey Rector
    Henry Massey Rector 1816–1899 · lawyer
  • James Rector
    James Rector 1884–1949 · lawyer
  • John B. Rector 1837–1898 · judge
  • Charles H. Rector 1855–1917 · travel writer
  • Dorothea Rector 1861–1942

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Rector,
in the records of 5 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States968 records

968 records of the Rector name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 570
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 234
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 66
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 60
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 21
  • Riverside Cemetery, Asheville (North Carolina) 10
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 3
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 2
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 1
  • Sacramento County historic burials 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record William M. Rector

    Born 1912 in Virginia. Enlisted 1945 at Baltimore, Maryland; driver from Montgomery County, Maryland. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1983, buried at Culpeper National Cemetery, Virginia.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Roy Jack Rector

    Born 1944; from Whiteface, Texas. U.S. Marine Corps, rifleman; died of wounds 1968 in Quang Tri, South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record John Rector

    Arrived at New York in 1876 aboard the P. Caland from Rotterdam, aged 39; priest. From Germany.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 968 records for Rector in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · City of Asheville (public domain, PDDL) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Canada511 records

511 records of the Rector name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 505
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 5
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 1
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Civil record Ruben Rector

    Killed in 1943 at the Acadia No. 7 mine, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  2. A Canadian First World War grave register card for a soldier who died of wounds in 1917
    Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917
    War record George Rector

    Died in service in 1916.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.
  3. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Charles Edward Rector

    Died 1941; buried at Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, British Columbia.

    City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver.

Showing 3 of 511 records for Rector in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0).

Netherlands243 records

243 records of the Rector name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch population registers 140
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 80
  • Dutch church registers before 1811 23
  1. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Jan Hendrik Rector

    Married in 1906 in Amsterdam; baker. Died 1957 in Bussum, aged 78.

    Open Archives, Noord-Hollands Archief (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Jacoba Nicoletta Rector

    Married in 1922 in Baarn. Died 1952 in Baarn, aged 51.

    Open Archives, Het Utrechts Archief (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Charlotte Johanna Rector

    Died 1915 in Arnhem, aged 86.

    Open Archives, Gelders Archief (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 243 records for Rector in the Netherlands.

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Germany16 records

16 records of the Rector name in Germany Germany's First World War casualty lists, 1914–1919
  1. A page of the German First World War casualty lists, 18 April 1918
    Example: German casualty list, 1918
    Casualty list Ihno Rector

    From Ostdorf, Norden. Reported missing in the Prussian casualty list of 1 April 1916 (Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 57).

    Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0)
  2. A page of the German First World War casualty lists, 18 April 1918
    Example: German casualty list, 1918
    Casualty list Georg Rector

    From Gleiwitz. Reported wounded in the Prussian casualty list of 19 February 1917.

    Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0)

Showing 2 of 16 records for Rector in Germany.

Counts: Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Deutsche Verlustlisten, Prussian list 1116, 18 April 1918 (scan via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0).

Australia8 records

8 records of the Rector name in Australia
  • Tasmanian Names Index 5
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 3
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Charles Rector

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Arab, sailing from Portsmouth in 1834. Native of Lymington, Hampshire.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Charles Rector

    Died 1893 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 84.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Frederick Rector

    Will registered in Tasmania in 1931.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 8 records for Rector in Australia.

Counts: Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Rector.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Rector is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

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