Erich

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", as in the form Æinrikr explicitly, or from *aiwa(z) "everlasting, eternity". The second element -ríkr stems either from *ríks "king, ruler" (cf. Gothic reiks) or from the therefrom derived *ríkijaz "kingly, powerful, rich, prince". The name is thus usually taken to mean "sole ruler, autocrat" or "eternal ruler, ever powerful".

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. In Finland, the form Erkki is also used. The modern Icelandic version is Eiríkur, while the modern Faroese version is Eirikur. Éric [eʁik] is used in French, and in Germany Eric, Erik and Erich are used.

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.

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

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 for comprehensive lists.

• 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 Pierpoint, American 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

• 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.

• 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