Eric
Eric
The given name Eric, Erich, Erik, or Erick is derived from the Old Norse name Eiríkr (or Eríkr in Eastern Old Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ei- is derived either from the older Proto-Norse **aina(z), meaning "one, alone, unique",[1] as in the form Æinrikr explicitly, or from aiwa(z) "everlasting, eternity".[2] The second element -ríkr stems either from ríks"king, ruler" (cf. Gothic reiks) or from the therefrom derived ríkijaz "kingly, powerful, rich, prince".[3] The name is thus usually taken to mean "sole ruler, autocrat" or "eternal ruler, ever powerful".[4]
The most common spelling in Scandinavia and the Netherlands is Erik.
In Norway, another form of the name (which has kept the Old Norse diphthong) Eirik is also commonly used.[5] In Finland, the form Erkki is also used. The modern Icelandic version is Eiríkur,[6][7][8] while the ModernFaroese version is Eirikur. Éric [eʁik] is used in French, and in Germany Eric, Erik and Erich are used.[9]
Although the name was in use in Anglo-Saxon England, its use was reinforced by Scandinavian settlers arriving before the Norman conquest of England. It was an uncommon name in England until the Middle Ages, when it gained popularity, and finally became a common name in the 19th century. This was partly because of the publishing of the novel Eric, or, Little by Little by Frederic Farrar in 1858.
In Norway, Sweden and Finland, the name day for Erik and Eirik is 18 May, commemorating the death of Saint Eric IX of Sweden.
The feminine derivative is Erica or Erika.
Royalty
Danish
Eric I of Denmark, king of Denmark between 1095 and 1103
Eric II of Denmark, king of Denmark between 1134 and 1137
Eric III of Denmark, king of Denmark from 1137 until he abdicated in 1146
Eric IV of Denmark, king of Denmark from 1241 until his murder in 1250
Eric V of Denmark, son of Christopher I, reigned from 1259 to his murder in 1286
Eric VI of Denmark, firstborn son of Eric V, reigned from 1286 to 1319
Eric VII of Denmark, also Eric III of Norway and Eric XIII of Sweden, reigned from 1397 to his deposition in 1439
Norwegian
Eric I of Norway (Eric Bloodaxe), the second king of Norway
Eric II of Norway, the king of Norway from 1280 until 1299
Eric III of Norway, also Eric VII of Denmark and Eric XIII of Sweden
Eiríkr Hákonarson, earl of Lade, ruler of Norway and earl of Northumbria
Erik the Red, the son of Þorvaldr Ásvaldsson
Swedish
Alaric and Eric, two legendary kings of Sweden
Jorund and Eirik, two legendary kings of Sweden
Erik Björnsson, one of the sons of Björn Ironside
Erik Refilsson, Swedish legendary king
Eric Anundsson, Swedish legendary king who ruled during the 9th century, may be the same as Erik Weatherhat, a more or less mythical Swedish king
Eric the Victorious, king of the Swedes during the second half of the 10th century
Eric and Eric, two pretenders around 1066
Eric IX of Sweden, Swedish king between 1150 and 1160, called Saint Eric, Eric the Lawgiver, Eric the Saint, or Eric the Holy
Eric X of Sweden, the King of Sweden between 1208 and 1216
Eric XI of Sweden, the son of king Erik X of Sweden and Richeza of Denmark
Eric XII of Sweden, rival King of Sweden and to his father Magnus IV from 1356 to his death in 1359
Eric XIII of Sweden, Eric of Pomerania
Eric XIV of Sweden, King of Sweden from 1560 until he was deposed in 1568
Given name
Eric, Erich, and Erik are very common given names.
The below list is a sampling.
See All pages with titles beginning with Eric, All pages with titles beginning with Erich, and All pages with titles beginning with Erik
Erik Acharius, Swedish botanist
Eric Adjetey Anang, Ghanaian artist
Eric Andre, American comedian
Eric Bana (born 1968), Australian actor
Eric Bauza (born 1979), American voice actor
Eric Benét (born 1966), American singer-songwriter and actor
Eric Marlon Bishop, American actor and musician known by the stage name Jamie Foxx
Eric Arthur Blair, English author known by his pen-name George Orwell
Eric Blore, English character actor
Erik Gustaf Boström, Prime Minister of Sweden
Eric R. Braverman (born 1957), American physician
Eric Brodkowitz, Israeli-American baseball pitcher for the Israel national baseball team
Eric "Nick" Bravin (born 1971), American Olympic fencer
Erik Breukink, Dutch racing cyclist
Eric Brewer, Canadian ice hockey player
Eric Burdon, English vocalist, songwriter and frontman of The Animals
Eric Cantona, French footballer
Eric Cantor, American politician
Eric Carle, children's author
Erik Carrasco, Chilean basketball player
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, Cameroonian football player
Eric Church, American country music singer and songwriter
Eric Clapton, English guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter
Erich Consemüller, German Bauhaus-trained architect and photographer
Eric Decker, American football player
Erik Dekker, Dutch racing cyclist
Erik von Detten, American actor
Eric Dickerson, American football player
Erik Durm, German footballer
Erik Edman, Swedish footballer
Erik Erikson, German-born American developmental psychologist
Eric Esch, American boxer
Erik Estrada, American actor
Erich von Falkenhayn, Chief of the German General Staff during the First World War
Eric Felton, American football player
Erik Ivar Fredholm, Swedish mathematician
Eric Fromm (born 1958), American tennis player
Erich Fromm, German sociologist and writer
Erik Frank, Finnish cyclist
Eric Gonzalez (lawyer), American lawyer
Eric Greitens, American politician, author, and Navy SEAL
Erik Gustaf Geijer, Swedish writer, historian, and composer
Erik Guay, Canadian alpine skier
Erik Hamrén, Swedish football coach
Eric Harper, New Zealand sportsman
Eric Harris (disambiguation), multiple people
Erich Hartmann, German WWII fighter ace
Eric A. Havelock, British classicist
Eric Hayes, British soldier
Eric Hayes (American football), American football player
Eric Heiden, American speed skater
Erik Heinrichs, Finnish general
Eric Himelfarb, Canadian ice hockey player
Eric Holcomb, American politician
Eric Holle, American football player
Eric Holmback, American professional wrestler, also known by ring name Yukon Eric
Eric Holtz (born 1965), American Head Coach of the Israel national baseball team
Erich Honecker, (1922-1993), East German leader
Eric Hosmer, American baseball player
Eric Hutchinson, American singer-songwriter
Eric Idle, English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer, and comedic composer
Eric Johnson, American guitarist and recording artist
Erik Johnson, American hockey player
Erik Jorpes, Finnish-born Swedish physician and biochemist
Eric Jungmann (born 1981), American actor
Eric Kandel (born 1929), Austrian-American physician and Nobel Prize laureate
Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Swedish Nobel Prize winning poet
Erik Karlsson, Swedish hockey player
Erich Kästner, (1899-1974), German author, poet, screenwriter and satirist
Erik Keedus, Estonian basketball player
Erik Kynard, American high jumper
Eriq La Salle, American actor and director
Erik Lamela, Argentine footballer
Eric Lange, American actor
Eric Liddell, Scottish athlete, rugby union international player, and missionary
Eric Lindell, American singer-songwriter
Eric Lindros, hockey player
Eric Lively (born 1981), American actor
Erik Lorig (born 1986), American NFL football player
Erich Ludendorff, German general and one of the moat significant commanders of World War I
Eric Lynn Hacker, American professional baseball pitcher
Eric Mabius, American actor
Eric Martsolf, American actor
Erich von Manstein, German field marshal
Erik Mariñelarena, Mexican screenwriter, director and producer
Eric McCormack, American actor
Erik McCoy (born 1997), American football player
Erick McIntosh, American football player
Eric the Actor, television actor, radio personality
Erik Mongrain, Canadian composer and guitarist
Eric Morecambe, English comedian
Eric Moon, Korean singer and actor
Erich Muhsfeldt, German SS officer at Auschwitz and Majdanek concentration camps executed for war crimes
Eric Hilliard Nelson, better known as Ricky Nelson, American actor, singer/songwriter and musician
Eric nam, a Korean American singer-songwriter, entertainer and television presenter
Erick Neres da Cruz, a Brazilian professional footballer
Eric Nkansah, Ghanaian sprinter
Eric Nystrom (born 1983), American hockey player
Eric Owens (bass-baritone), American opera singer
Erik Palladino, American actor
Eric Parker (American football), American football player
Eric Peterson, Canadian actor
Eric Pinkins, American football player
Eric Prydz, Swedish disc jockey and producer
Eric Ravotti, American football player
Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970), German writer (All Quiet on the Western Front)
Erik Rhodes (actor, born 1906), American film and Broadway actor
Erik Rico, American musician, singer, songwriter, producer, and DJ
Éric Ripert, chef and co-owner of the New York restaurant, Le Bernardin
Eric Roberts American actor
Eric Rosswood, American LGBT activist
Erich Roth (1910– 1947), Nazi Gestapo member executed for war crimes
Erich Rudorffer (1917-2016), German Luftwaffe fighter ace
Eric Saade, Swedish singer/songwriter
Erik Satie, French composer
Eric Saubert (born 1994), American football player
Eric Schmidt, billionaire executive chairman of Google
Eric Sevareid, American journalist
Erik Solbakken, Norwegian television presenter
Eric Staal, Canadian hockey player
Eric Stanley (violinist), American violinist and composer
Eric Still, American football player
Eric Stoltz, American actor, director and producer
Eric Sykes, English radio, television and film writer, actor and director
Eric Thomas (disambiguation), multiple people
Eric Tsang, Hong Kong film actor, producer and director
Erik Turner, rhythm guitarist of glam metal band Warrant
Eric Vale, voice actor, script writer, ADR director, and head writer at Funimation
Erik Verlinde, Dutch theoretical physicist
Erik De Vlaeminck, Belgian racing cyclist
Erick Wainaina, Kenyan long-distance runner
Erich Wasicky, German SS pharmacist at Mauthausen concentration camp in charge of gassing victims and was executed.
Eric Welsh, an intelligence officer
Eric Wennström, Swedish hurdler
Eric Whitacre, composer and conductor
Erik White, American director
Erik White (Canadian football), Canadian football player
Eric Wilkerson, American football player
Erik Adolf von Willebrand, Finnish internist (von Willebrand disease)
Eric Lynn Wright, American rapper known as Eazy-E
Eric Yuan (born 1969/70), American billionaire, founder and CEO of Zoom Video Communications
Eric Zinterhofer (born 1971), American private equity financier
Erik de Zwart, Dutch radio and television maker
Fictional characters
Erik the Red (comics), fictional character in the Marvel Comics comic book universe
Eric, a character from the video game Zero Time Dilemma
Erik, the titular character in Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel The Phantom of the Opera
Flat Eric, low-tech, yellow puppet character from Levi's commercials for Sta-Prest One Crease Denim Clothing
Eric Blonowitz, a character in the Nickelodeon sitcom Drake & Josh
Eric Cartman, one of the four main characters in the TV series South Park
Prince Eric, the love interest of Princess Ariel in the Disney movie, The Little Mermaid
General Erich Von Klinkerhoffen, the boss of Colonel Kurt Von Strohm, Captain Alberto Bertorelli, Captain Hans Geering and Lieutenant Hubert Gruber in the TV series 'Allo 'Allo!
Eric Murphy, fictional character on the comedy-drama television series Entourage.
Eric Northman, the love interest of Sookie Stackhouse in the Southern Vampire Mysteries novels and the TV series True Blood
Eric Draven, man brutally murdered that comes back to life as an undead avenger of his and his fiancée's murder in the movie The Crow
Erik Von Darkmoor, fictional character appearing in the novels of Raymond E. Feist
Erik Lehnsherr, also known as Magneto in the Marvel Universe.
Eric Matthews, a main character from the TV series Boy Meets World and its spinoff Girl Meets World
Eric Foreman, major character from the TV series House M.D.
Eric Forman, the main character in That 70s Show
Erik Pinksterblom, the main character in Erik_of_het_klein_insectenboek
Eric Myers, a character in Power Rangers Time Force
Erik Stevens, a character from Black Panther (Film)
Eric van der Woodsen, Gossip Girl character.
Eric Thursley, a thirteen-year-old demonologist and the titular character of the Discworld novel Eric
Surname
Elspeth Eric (1907-1993), American actress
Micheal Eric (born 1988), Nigerian basketball player
Dobrica Erić (born 1936), Serbian writer
Jelena Erić (born 1979), Serbian handball player
Nenad Erić (born 1982), Serbian football goalkeeper
Slađana Erić (born 1983), Serbian volleyball player
Zoran Erić (born 1950), Serbian composer
See also
Eriksgata
Saga of Erik the Red
Éric
Arik
Euric