Erik

Meaning: Its source is ei rikr, an Old Norse name meaning "Complete ruler."

Languages: This boy's name is used in German, Dutch, English, Czech, Norwegian, Swedish and Danish.

Nickname For: Frederick

Nicknames: Ricky

Alternative Spellings: Eric and Erich

Feminine Forms: Erica and Erika

Popularity: The name Erik ranked 153rd in popularity for males of all ages in a sample of 2000-2003 Social Security Administration statistics and 231st in popularity for males of all ages in a sample of the 1990 US Census.

This name first made its appearance on state popularity lists of the 1990s, and has been trending upward in usage ever since.

Narrative: Eric the Red, Norse colonizer of Greenland and father to the explorer Leif Ericson, may spring to mind upon encountering this name in any one of its popular spellings -- Eric, Erik or Erick.

However, the name was not widely used among English-speaking people until 19th-century British fiction writers Frederic Farrar (in Eric, or Little by Little) and H. Rider Haggard (in Eric Brighteyes) used it in popular literature.

Arts and Music

Erik Satie (born 1866, died 1925)
French avant-garde composer.
- Composed Socrate (see list of Composers of the 20th Century)

Sports

Erik Adlerz
Swedish athlete.
- 1912 Olympic gold medal winner for Platform Diving (see list of Olympic Gold Medalists in Platform Diving)
Erik Lundkvist
Swedish athlete.
- 1928 Olympic track and field gold medal winner for Javelin (see list of Olympic Gold Medalists in Miscellaneous Field Events)

The Literary World

Erik A. Karlfeldt (born 1864, died 1931)
Swedish poet.
- 1931 Nobel Prize winner for Literature (see list of Winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature)