Gender Masculine
Meaning & History
Means "ever ruler", from the Old Norse name Eiríkr, derived from the elements ei "ever, always" and ríkr "ruler, king" [1] [2] [3] [4] . A notable bearer was Eiríkr inn Rauda (Eric the Red in English), a 10th-century navigator and explorer who discovered Greenland. This was also the name of several early kings of Sweden, Denmark and Norway.This common Norse name was first brought to England by Danish settlers during the Anglo-Saxon period. It was not popular in England in the Middle Ages, but it was revived in the 19th century, in part due to the children's novel Eric, or Little by Little (1858) by Frederic William Farrar.
Related Names
Other Languages & CulturesÈric (Catalan) Erik (Croatian) Erik (Czech) Erik, Jerrik (Danish) Erik (Dutch) Eerik, Eero, Erik, Erkki (Estonian) Eerik, Eerikki, Eero, Erik, Erkki (Finnish) Éric (French) Aiwareiks, Euric (Gothic) Erik (Hungarian) Eiríkur (Icelandic) Ēriks (Latvian) Erikas (Lithuanian) Erik (Medieval Scandinavian) Eirik, Erik (Norwegian) Eiríkr (Old Norse) Eryk (Polish) Érico, Eurico (Portuguese) Erik (Slovak) Erik (Slovene)
Popularity
People think this name is
classic mature formal wholesome strong refined simple serious
Images
17th-century depiction of Eric the Red17th-century depiction of Eric the Red
Sources & References
- Peterson, Lena. Nordiskt runnamnslexikon. Uppsala, 2007, page 262.
- Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford, 1990, page 106.
- Cleasby, Richard and Gudbrand Vigfusson. An Icelandic-English Dictionary (1874), entry ei, available from https://old-norse.net/html/e.php#ei.
- Cleasby, Richard and Gudbrand Vigfusson. An Icelandic-English Dictionary (1874), entry ríkr, available from https://old-norse.net/html/r.php#ríkr.
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Entry updated May 26, 2026