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Eric

Boys' name · Late 20th-century perennial

Living in the US
~804,800 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#273 among boys
Births in 2025
1,256 893,184 since 1880
Typical age
44 years, median

Eric popularity over time

Eric rank by birth year, 1880–2025Eric ranked #600 in 1880 and #273 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #13, in 1973.#100#273best #13 in 197318901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

The high point was 1970: 23,719 births recorded as Eric. The name is already in use in 1880, where the data begins. Eric has spent 61 years inside the national top 100.

As of 2025 the name sits at #273, with 1,256 births that year. The ten-year change is -59%. It slipped 21 places against the previous year.

Babies named Eric per yearPeaks at 23,719 births in 1970.23,719 in 1970018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Eric?

About 804,800 people named Eric are alive in the United States today. That is out of 893,184 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Eric?

Median age among living Erics: 44. The 1980s produced the largest surviving cohort. By the site’s era rules that makes Eric a late 20th-century perennial name.

Your Eric

Ages of living people named EricHalf of living Erics are older than 44 and half younger.median 44020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Eric is most common

New Mexico uses the name 2.0× as often as the country as a whole. California, District of Columbia and Delaware follow.

Where Eric is used more than average5 states use the name Eric more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: 1.5× the national rateCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: 1.7× the national rateCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: 1.5× the national rateDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: 2.0× the national rateNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: 1.6× the national rateDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Eric is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
New Mexico 147 2.0×
California 3,556 1.7×
District of Columbia 58 1.6×
Delaware 49 1.5×
Connecticut 212 1.5×

Eric in England and Wales

In England and Wales, Eric ranked #168 in 2025 on 300 births. That is 29% lower than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Eric comes from

From Middle English Eric, from Old English Eoric, from Old Norse Eirríkr, Eiríkr, or from Proto-Germanic *Aizarīkijaz. Less likely from einn + ríkr, from Proto-Germanic *rīks (“king”). The name was in use in Anglo-Saxon Britain, reinforced by Scandinavian settlers before the Norman Conquest. Compare Danish Erik, German Erich. Possible Doublet of Euric.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Eric

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Eric Clapton British musician 1945 100
Eric Hobsbawm British academic historian and Marxist historiographer 1917–2012 76
Eric Abidal French footballer 1979 68
Eric Allin Cornell American physicist, professor 1961 65
Eric Bana Australian actor 1968 64
Eric Idle British comedian, actor and writer 1943 59
Eric Dier English association football player 1994 58
Eric Schmidt software engineer, businessman, former Google CEO 1955 57
Photo credits (6)

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/eric.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).