How did Rickie or Rikki come to be a girl's name when it's short for Richard?

@ArtieKat I suppose you're right. Wasn't it Johnny Cash who sang about a boy named Sue? Lol :)

@pelman0011 I've heard plenty of good songs today, I had the radio on at work as usual. Those two songs were on at different times during the day and both gave rise to this question.

Why was Ricki Lake called that? It's unusual to christen a child with an abbreviated name like that.

@HairbrushDiva Ricki Pamela Lake is her given name. I agree with you, but she's way richer than me (even though her show was putrid), so what do I know?

@BigAssLeech I just checked that on Google and the "explanation" given there is even stranger than I thought. It says it's derived from Erica, a female version of Eric. I've never seen a connection between those names and Richard. The plot has thickened.