The county was named in 1827 for Richard Clough Anderson, Jr., 1788-1826. He served three terms in the Kentucky legislature, was elected to Congress in 1817 for two terms, returned to the Kentucky legislature in 1822 and was chosen speaker, and was appointed minister to Colombia by President Monroe in 1823, where he negotiated the first treaty with a South American nation in 1824. He was interred at Soldier's Retreat, his family home near Middletown, Kentucky.