Eric
Feminine · “eternal ruler”
Eric is given to boys far more often — 888,891 boys against 4,293 girls since 1880. See Eric as a boy name
Eirikr meant the ever-ruler. It is Old Norse ei, always or eternal, joined to rikr, ruler — a name that claims permanence, given by people whose kings mostly did not get it. Erik the Red was exiled for killing two men, sailed west, and named the ice he found Greenland to attract settlers.
How old is the name Eric?
Eric first appears in US birth records in 1942 — 83 years ago. The typical Eric alive today was born around 1979, making them about 46 years old. About 4,100 people named Eric are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Eric most popular?
Eric peaked in 1970, reaching #891 nationally. See the whole 1970 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Eiríkr to Eric
The story of Eric
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. Erik with a k is the Scandinavian spelling and remains standard there.
Meaningscholars disagree
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.
How the name formed
- Eiríkr
- Erik
- Eric
Related forms: Erik · Eirik · Erich · Érico · Eerik
Pronouncing 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.
Nicknames for Eric
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1942
- Most girls named
- 1988165 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #891reached in 1970
- Change vs 2015
- 0.0%5 in 2016, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Eric in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Erik in Swedish — same name
- Eirik in Norwegian — same name
- Erich in German — same name
- Érico in Spanish — same name
- Eerik in Finnish — same name
Erics among us
people named Eric are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Eric sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- 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.
- Two syllables, four letters, and never mispronounced in English.
- 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.
- This spelling is recorded for girls too, though so rarely that a girl named Eric will be read as a boy on every form; Erica carries the same root without that.
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What they receive
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Eric
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Erics are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,100 people named Eric are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Eric in 2025?
- Eric is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Eric with classmates?
- Eric will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More E names
The most-given names starting with E, all years combined.
Elizabeth#17 · Emily#34 · Emma#3 · Evelyn#8 · Ella#29 · Eleanor#12 · Erin#833 · Edna#2458
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Eric? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Eric and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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