Head to head · Boys' names
Bodie vs Eric
#275 vs #273 in 2025
Eric is a whisker ahead (#273 vs #275 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Eric is stepping back from its peak, Bodie is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Bodie has the edge.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Eric leads 5 measures of 6; Bodie leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Bodie —, Eric #550 — Eric higher
- 1890s: Bodie —, Eric #433 — Eric higher
- 1900s: Bodie —, Eric #438 — Eric higher
- 1910s: Bodie —, Eric #426 — Eric higher
- 1920s: Bodie #4061, Eric #424 — Eric higher
- 1930s: Bodie —, Eric #337 — Eric higher
- 1940s: Bodie —, Eric #158 — Eric higher
- 1950s: Bodie #3490, Eric #78 — Eric higher
- 1960s: Bodie #2730, Eric #29 — Eric higher
- 1970s: Bodie #3352, Eric #15 — Eric higher
- 1980s: Bodie #3877, Eric #20 — Eric higher
- 1990s: Bodie #3165, Eric #31 — Eric higher
- 2000s: Bodie #1617, Eric #66 — Eric higher
- 2010s: Bodie #972, Eric #131 — Eric higher
- 2020s: Bodie #438, Eric #232 — Eric higher
Eric stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Bodie | Eric |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #550 |
| 1890s | — | #433 |
| 1900s | — | #438 |
| 1910s | — | #426 |
| 1920s | #4061 | #424 |
| 1930s | — | #337 |
| 1940s | — | #158 |
| 1950s | #3490 | #78 |
| 1960s | #2730 | #29 |
| 1970s | #3352 | #15 |
| 1980s | #3877 | #20 |
| 1990s | #3165 | #31 |
| 2000s | #1617 | #66 |
| 2010s | #972 | #131 |
| 2020s | #438 | #232 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Bodie
Not established
Three roads meet at this spelling and none has been settled as the source. As a surname it connects to Bode and Boden, from the Germanic and Old English word for a messenger or herald. As a place name it comes from the California mining camp, named for a prospector whose surname was written Bodey. And it is a homophone of Bodhi, the Sanskrit word for awakening used in Buddhist texts, which many American parents now use as an alternative spelling. Parents choosing Bodie can honestly pick which of these they mean.
How it traveled
The clearest documented Bodie is the town: gold was found in that stretch of the Sierra Nevada in 1859, the camp took the finder's surname with the spelling smoothed to Bodie, and by the 1880s it was one of the roughest boomtowns in the West. It emptied out, survived, and is a California state historic park today, which kept the spelling visible long after the mines closed.
Eric
eternal ruler
Old Norse Eirikr joins rikr, ruler or powerful, to a first element read either as ei, ever, or as a prefix meaning one or alone — giving eternal ruler or sole ruler. Both are standard and neither is settled. The rikr half is certain and shares a root with the Latin rex and the German reich. The name arrived in England with Scandinavian settlement and has been continuously present in the north ever since.
Eiríkr → Erik → Eric
How it traveled
The name's modern English use owes a great deal to a Victorian school story: Eric, or Little by Little, published in eighteen fifty-eight, was a moralizing bestseller about a boy's gradual corruption, and it was read by everyone and mocked almost immediately. It made the name familiar in England at a time when Norse revival was already fashionable, and Eric went from a northern rarity to an ordinary choice within a generation.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Bodie
BOH-dee
Rhymes with roadie. Identical in sound to Bodhi, and one consonant away from Brody — expect to be asked which spelling you mean rather than how to say it.
- Bo — The default short form, and a long-established standalone given name in its own right in the US.
- Bodes — Informal, mostly among friends and teammates.
- B — Initial-only, used casually the way most B names get shortened.
Eric
AIR-ik
AIR-ik, two syllables, stress at the front. Some Americans say EH-rik with a flatter first vowel; both are heard and neither is wrong. Swedish and Norwegian say it with a fuller first vowel and a rolled r.
- Rick — Built from the back, and a complete working name of its own.
- E — The initial alone, which a great many short American men's names end up as.
- Ricky — The back softened, and a standing name in its own right.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Bodie if you want…
- a name on the way upup 337 places on the charts in five years
- a newer arrivalBodie entered the US charts in 1920
- a name that feels very nowBodie is climbing the charts fast
Choose Eric if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsEric is stepping back from its peak
- a long American recordEric was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 59% for Bodie
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Bodie
Strengths
- Ready-made short form in Bo, which already works on its own as a name and needs no explanation to anyone.
- Two syllables, five letters, and readable at first sight by English speakers — no one has to guess at the vowels.
- Fits the established American pattern of surname-and-place names for boys, so it sounds current without being invented.
To consider
- The spelling will need repeating for life. Bodhi, Brody, Bode and Boadie are all in circulation, and Bodhi in particular is close enough that people will default to it.
- It is one letter from the word body, and children notice that sort of thing. Most outgrow it quickly, but it is worth saying out loud before you decide.
- The wave is very recent and rising fast. A Bodie today will likely be the only one in his class, but that picture can change over the years a child is in school.
Eric
Strengths
- The Norse compound is documented and both possible readings are strong ones.
- Rick is available as a complete alternative name inside it.
- It works in every Germanic and Scandinavian language without translation.
To consider
- Erik and Erick are both standard and the spelling is dictated every time.
- A great many people carry it, so an Eric will rarely be the only one in a workplace.
- It is strongly associated with the second half of the last century in America.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Bodie
59%chance Bodie feels dated by 2040
Bodie is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
Eric
12%chance Eric feels dated by 2040
Eric has held the top-100 across 6 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Bodie and Eric in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Bodie and Eric?
Put both to the vote.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Names ending in -ie
- Generation X names (born 1965–1980)
- Millennial names (born 1981–1996)
- The most common names in America today
- all guides
Where Bodie and Eric each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Bodie or Eric — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Bodie or Eric?
- Eric, in 2025: Eric ranked #273 with 1,256 babies; Bodie ranked #275 with 1,249 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Bodie or Eric?
- Bodie. Over the last five years Bodie moved up 337 places; Eric moved down 75 places.
- Which is the older name, Bodie or Eric?
- Bodie entered the US charts in 1920; Eric was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Eric is the older name.
- How many people are named Bodie and Eric?
- About 8,500 people named Bodie are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 801,000 people named Eric are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Bodies or Erics in the classroom?
- Bodie will almost certainly be the only one in school. Eric will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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