Eric

“Eternal ruler” — Old Norse origin

Boy's name · #273 in the US (2025) · Retro

Eric's best rank, #13, came in 1973; it has stepped well back to #273 today. Roughly 889,000 boys have been named Eric since 1880. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records. Together with its spelling variants Erick (#366) and Erik (#546), Eric would rank around #135 with about 2,700 births last year — the newborns split about 47/33/20 across Eric, Erick, and Erik.

Around the world: #51 in Spain (2024).

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 45 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Famous Erics

Eric Clapton — British musician
Eric Cantona — French footballer and actor (born 1966)
Eric Hobsbawm — British academic historian and Marxist historiographer (1917–2012)
Eric Abidal — French footballer (born 1979)
Eric Allin Cornell — American physicist, professor (born 1961)

In stories & tradition

Eric Cartman — South Park
Eric (Blade) — The Tomb of Dracula · Blade
Eric Foreman — House M.D.

What Erics become

Among 9,523 notable people named Eric:

Sports figures appear 1.33× more often than among typical names — e.g. Eric Cantona, French footballer and actor (born 1966).

Similar names: Erick · Jeffrey · Eros · Bradley · Derrick · Richard

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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