Erik
Feminine · “ever-ruler”
Erik is given to boys far more often — 157,461 boys against 665 girls since 1880. See Erik as a boy name
Erik with a k is the standard spelling across Scandinavia, and American records treat it and the c-spelling as two different names, which they are not. The Swedish king who carries it was examined in a laboratory in this century and the results matched the legend.
How old is the name Erik?
Erik first appears in US birth records in 1964 — 61 years ago. The typical Erik alive today was born around 1982, making them about 43 years old. About 600 people named Erik are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Erik most popular?
Erik peaked in 1980, reaching #2342 nationally. See the whole 1980 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Eiríkr to Erik
The story of Erik
Erik the Ninth of Sweden was killed in eleven sixty and became the country's patron saint. In twenty fourteen a research team opened the reliquary in Uppsala Cathedral and examined the bones. The results were unusually consistent with the medieval account: a man of about forty, unusually strong in the leg bones, with healed injuries and then a series of unhealed wounds to the shins, ribs, neck and head, in a pattern consistent with being cut down and then decapitated. The legs had been struck from behind, which fits a man being brought down before the killing blow. Isotope analysis showed a freshwater fish diet consistent with a religious fasting regime. Not everything matched — the skull was there, and the legend has complications — but very little of it was contradicted.
Meaning
ever-ruler; sole ruler
An Old Norse compound whose first element is read as ever or alone and whose second means ruler. It was a royal name in Denmark, Norway and Sweden for centuries, and the k spelling is the native one in all three.
How the name formed
- Eiríkr
- Erik
Related forms: Erik · Erik · Eric · Eerik
Pronouncing Erik
EH-rik
Two syllables with the stress at the front. Swedish says it much the same way; the k and the c are identical in sound, which is why the two spellings are one name.
Nicknames for Erik
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
- 1964
- Most girls named
- 198041 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2342reached in 1980
- Change vs 2007
- +16.7%7 in 2008, from 6
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.
Erik in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Erik in Swedish — same name
- Erik in Danish — same name
- Eric in English — same name
- Eerik in Finnish — same name
Eriks among us
people named Erik 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
Erik 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
- It is the native spelling across Scandinavia rather than an approximation.
- The meaning is documented and has not shifted.
- Four letters with no silent ones make it quick to write.
- Eric is commoner in America and will be written for it.
- It has been common for several decades, so a classroom may hold more than one.
- It is recorded for daughters too, though very rarely.
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What they receive
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Erik
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Eriks are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Erik are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Erik in 2025?
- Erik is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Erik with classmates?
- Erik 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 Erik? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Erik and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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