Erik
Erik was given to 549 boys in 2025, #546 among boys’ names; 158,126 Americans have been recorded with it since 1911 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 147,000 Americans named Erik and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (93% of everyone recorded); the median is 38 years old and half are between 27 and 48.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Erik by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Erik mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Erik is “a male given name from Old Norse, variant of Eric.”
A spelling variant of Eric, or directly borrowed from modern Swedish Erik.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Erik?
#546 among boys’ names, 2025
Erik fell from #337 in 2015 to #546 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 0.53 to 0.32 per 1,000.
4,959 babies in 1980, the peak
Erik peaked in 1980, when 4,959 babies were given it (4,918 boys, #64 among boys’ names). The 549 births of 2025 are 11% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 549 | #546 | 0.32 |
| 2024 | 645 | #476 | 0.37 |
| 2023 | 679 | #454 | 0.40 |
| 2022 | 716 | #432 | 0.41 |
| 2021 | 699 | #442 | 0.40 |
| 2020 | 708 | #422 | 0.41 |
| 2019 | 815 | #384 | 0.45 |
| 2018 | 855 | #377 | 0.47 |
| 2017 | 901 | #368 | 0.49 |
| 2016 | 948 | #355 | 0.50 |
Every recorded year (112)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1,019 | #337 | 0.53 |
| 2014 | 1,037 | #329 | 0.54 |
| 2013 | 1,105 | #311 | 0.58 |
| 2012 | 1,223 | #289 | 0.64 |
| 2011 | 1,266 | #277 | 0.67 |
| 2010 | 1,337 | #256 | 0.70 |
| 2009 | 1,555 | #233 | 0.78 |
| 2008 | 1,795 | #213 | 0.88 |
| 2007 | 2,028 | #199 | 1.0 |
| 2006 | 2,131 | #189 | 1.0 |
| 2005 | 2,228 | #183 | 1.1 |
| 2004 | 2,365 | #172 | 1.2 |
| 2003 | 2,550 | #158 | 1.3 |
| 2002 | 2,460 | #156 | 1.3 |
| 2001 | 2,574 | #155 | 1.3 |
| 2000 | 2,722 | #143 | 1.4 |
| 1999 | 2,723 | #139 | 1.4 |
| 1998 | 2,676 | #140 | 1.4 |
| 1997 | 2,857 | #134 | 1.5 |
| 1996 | 3,020 | #122 | 1.6 |
| 1995 | 3,432 | #111 | 1.8 |
| 1994 | 3,746 | #99 | 1.9 |
| 1993 | 3,488 | #105 | 1.8 |
| 1992 | 3,815 | #98 | 1.9 |
| 1991 | 3,892 | #95 | 1.9 |
| 1990 | 3,956 | #96 | 1.9 |
| 1989 | 3,630 | #95 | 1.8 |
| 1988 | 3,478 | #92 | 1.8 |
| 1987 | 3,231 | #94 | 1.7 |
| 1986 | 3,110 | #92 | 1.7 |
| 1985 | 3,372 | #87 | 1.8 |
| 1984 | 3,422 | #84 | 1.9 |
| 1983 | 3,636 | #80 | 2.0 |
| 1982 | 3,632 | #80 | 2.0 |
| 1981 | 3,921 | #76 | 2.2 |
| 1980 | 4,918 | #64 | 2.8 |
| 1979 | 4,640 | #66 | 2.7 |
| 1978 | 3,261 | #85 | 2.0 |
| 1977 | 2,786 | #94 | 1.7 |
| 1976 | 2,754 | #94 | 1.8 |
| 1975 | 2,855 | #87 | 1.8 |
| 1974 | 2,881 | #90 | 1.8 |
| 1973 | 3,062 | #86 | 2.0 |
| 1972 | 3,398 | #86 | 2.1 |
| 1971 | 3,212 | #97 | 1.8 |
| 1970 | 3,245 | #101 | 1.7 |
| 1969 | 2,721 | #119 | 1.5 |
| 1968 | 2,368 | #125 | 1.4 |
| 1967 | 2,250 | #133 | 1.3 |
| 1966 | 1,965 | #145 | 1.1 |
| 1965 | 2,117 | #145 | 1.1 |
| 1964 | 1,167 | #221 | 0.59 |
| 1963 | 674 | #298 | 0.33 |
| 1962 | 516 | #344 | 0.25 |
| 1961 | 520 | #347 | 0.24 |
| 1960 | 472 | #360 | 0.22 |
| 1959 | 428 | #384 | 0.20 |
| 1958 | 340 | #427 | 0.16 |
| 1957 | 324 | #430 | 0.15 |
| 1956 | 253 | #475 | 0.12 |
| 1955 | 222 | #494 | 0.11 |
| 1954 | 220 | #486 | 0.11 |
| 1953 | 191 | #506 | 0.10 |
| 1952 | 187 | #509 | 0.10 |
| 1951 | 153 | #551 | 0.08 |
| 1950 | 132 | #591 | 0.07 |
| 1949 | 154 | #536 | 0.09 |
| 1948 | 93 | #691 | 0.05 |
| 1947 | 121 | #620 | 0.07 |
| 1946 | 95 | #665 | 0.06 |
| 1945 | 96 | #619 | 0.07 |
| 1944 | 65 | #777 | 0.05 |
| 1943 | 79 | #725 | 0.06 |
| 1942 | 57 | #869 | 0.04 |
| 1941 | 53 | #874 | 0.04 |
| 1940 | 44 | #971 | 0.04 |
| 1939 | 39 | #1,017 | 0.04 |
| 1938 | 32 | #1,151 | 0.03 |
| 1937 | 24 | #1,381 | 0.02 |
| 1936 | 18 | #1,605 | 0.02 |
| 1935 | 24 | #1,401 | 0.02 |
| 1934 | 24 | #1,396 | 0.02 |
| 1933 | 23 | #1,418 | 0.02 |
| 1932 | 13 | #2,128 | 0.01 |
| 1931 | 18 | #1,723 | 0.02 |
| 1930 | 17 | #1,847 | 0.02 |
| 1929 | 19 | #1,750 | 0.02 |
| 1928 | 8 | #3,170 | 0.01 |
| 1927 | 18 | #1,897 | 0.02 |
| 1926 | 16 | #2,013 | 0.01 |
| 1925 | 11 | #2,636 | 0.01 |
| 1924 | 23 | #1,643 | 0.02 |
| 1923 | 15 | #2,156 | 0.01 |
| 1922 | 12 | #2,530 | 0.01 |
| 1921 | 11 | #2,684 | 0.01 |
| 1920 | 8 | #3,297 | 0.01 |
| 1918 | 12 | #2,441 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 8 | #3,024 | 0.01 |
| 1916 | 10 | #2,604 | 0.01 |
| 1915 | 11 | #2,351 | 0.01 |
| 1914 | 6 | #3,015 | 0.01 |
| 1911 | 5 | #1,822 | 0.02 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Erik a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Erik has been given almost only to boys: 665 girls in 112 years of records.
Girls and boys named Erik: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Erik, and how old are they?
147,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 93% of the 158,126 Americans ever recorded as Erik. The median Erik alive today is 38 years old; half are between 27 and 48.
The 2020 Census counted 137,631 people named Erik (294 women and girls, 137,337 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 146,025 born in the U.S. The Census count is 6% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 182 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 4,520 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 43,300 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 54,200 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 33,900 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 10,600 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Erik born?
The states with the most babies named Erik are California, Texas and New York, with 36% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 31,848 | #369 | 1.6× |
| Texas | 12,772 | #380 | 1.0× |
| New York | 11,737 | #810 | 1.0× |
| Illinois | 9,441 | #723 | 1.2× |
| Pennsylvania | 5,889 | #719 | 0.8× |
| Michigan | 5,884 | #791 | 1.0× |
| Florida | 5,340 | #690 | 0.8× |
| Minnesota | 5,204 | #376 | 1.7× |
| Washington | 5,002 | #480 | 1.6× |
| New Jersey | 4,902 | #791 | 1.1× |
Where Erik is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Erik is most over-represented in Minnesota: since 1911 it was given 1.7 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Erik with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 1,135,344 babies since 1880, Erik is the second most given (14% of them). In 2025 it was given to 549 of their 2,699 babies (20%), the third most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Erik
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Erik and names like it
- Compare Erik and EricBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1980sErik peaked in 1980.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Erik since 1910.
- The top names of 1980The year the most babies were named Erik.
- The names of the MillennialsMost people named Erik alive today were born 1981-1996.
- Names starting with EMost given first.