Erik
Erik , Eric , Éric , rarely also Erick , is a male given name or family name. Erik is the older form, while Eric is the more common form today. The Germanized variant is Erich .
Origin, meaning and distribution
The name comes from the Scandinavian name Eiríkr or Airikr . Its fore link goes back to Old Norse ain, æn 'single, alone, lonely', the basic word ríkr means 'mighty, great' or substantively 'prince, ruler'. So the name means 'the sole ruler'.
The name spread over large parts of Europe in the ninth to eleventh centuries , but initially remained rare in many areas. Its frequency increased in the centuries that followed. In English and the Romance languages , the spelling Eric is mostly used today , while the Scandinavian region knows Erik (Danish, Swedish) and Eirik (Norwegian). In Germany , both variants are common, to which the Germanized form Erich occurs.
Name bearer
Eric, Eric
- Éric Abidal (* 1979), French football player
- Eric Afriat (* 1969 or 1970), Canadian entrepreneur and poker player
- Eric Ambler (1909-1998), British writer
- Eric Baldwin (* 1984), American poker player
- Eric Bana (born 1968), Australian actor
- Eric Benz (* 1980), German actor and singer
- Eric Berne (1910–1970), American psychiatrist, psychotherapist and author
- Eric Botteghin (* 1987), Brazilian soccer player
- Eric Buchman (* 1979), American poker player
- Eric Burdon (born 1941), British musician
- Éric Cantona (born 1966), French football player and actor
- Eric Carle (* 1929), American children's author
- Eric Carr (1950–1991), American musician
- Éric Charden (1942–2012), French singer
- Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (* 1989), German-Cameroonian football player
- Eric Clapton (* 1945), British musician
- Eric Correa (* 1968), American percussionist
- Eric Dane (born 1972), American actor
- Eric Da Re (born 1965), American actor
- Eric Fernihough (1905-1938), British motorcycle racer
- Eric Fleming (1925–1966), American actor
- Eric Frenzel (* 1988), German Nordic combined athlete, Olympic champion
- Eric Garcia (writer) (born 1972), American writer
- Eric García (soccer player) (* 2001), Spanish soccer player
- Eric Gerets (* 1954), Belgian football player and coach
- Eric Heiden (* 1958), American speed skater
- Eric Hobsbawm (1917–2012), British historian
- Eric Idle (born 1943), British actor, film producer, director, composer and author
- Eric Jelen (* 1965), German tennis player
- Eric Kripke (* 1974), American writer, producer and director
- Éric Laboureix (* 1962), French freestyle skier
- Eric Lewis (* 1973), American musician
- Eric Lichaj (* 1988), American football player
- Eric Nylund (* 1964), American author
- Eric Melvin (* 1966), American musician
- Eric Obinna Chukwunyelu (* 1981), Nigerian soccer player
- Eric Oelschlägel (* 1995), German soccer goalkeeper
- Eric de Oliveira Pereira (* 1985), Brazilian soccer player
- Eric Owen Moss (* 1943), American architect
- Eric Oliver (1911–1980), British motorcycle racer
- Eric Papilaya (* 1978), Austrian musician
- Eric Pohlmann , Austro-British actor
- Eric Prydz (* 1976), Swedish DJ and house producer
- Eric Regan (boxer) (born 1976), American boxer
- Eric Regan (ice hockey player) (* 1988), Canadian-South Korean ice hockey player
- Eric Schweitzer (* 1965), German entrepreneur
- Eric Steven Raymond (* 1957), American author and programmer
- Eric Ries (* 1978), American entrepreneur and author
- Éric Rohmer (1920–2010), French film and theater director
- Eric Ruf (* 1969), French actor and theater director
- Eric Saade (* 1990), Swedish musician, third place at the ESC 2011
- Eric San Juan (* 1973), American writer
- Eric Schaaf (* 1990), German soccer player
- Eric Schildge (* 1988), American racing cyclist
- Eric Schildkraut (1906–1999), German actor and radio play speaker
- Eric Staal (* 1984), Canadian ice hockey player
- Eric Steinbach (* 1980), American football player
- Eric John Eagles Swayne (1863–1929), British general and colonial governor
- Eric Tié Bi (* 1990), Ivorian-French football player
- Eric Trump (* 1984), American entrepreneur
- Eric Van Lustbader (* 1946), American writer
- Éric Vuillard (* 1968), French writer and filmmaker
- Eric Weems (born 1985), American football player
- Eric Wheeler (* ≈1980), American jazz musician
- Eric Woolfson (1945–2009), British musician
- Eric Wright (writer) (1929–2015), Canadian writer and university professor
Erick
- Érick Aguirre (born 1997), Mexican football player
- Erick Morillo (* 1971), Colombian-American DJ and music producer
- Erick Zonca (* 1956), French film director and screenwriter
- Erick Sermon (* 1968), American rapper and music producer
Erik
- Erik I (around 885–954), Norway's second king
- Erik VIII (Sweden), see Erik Segersäll
- Erik IX. (Sweden) (1120–1160), king and patron saint of Sweden
- Erik XI. (Sweden) (1216–1250), King of Sweden
- Erik the Red (~ 950–1003), founder of the first Viking settlements in Greenland
- Erik Blomqvist (chess player) (* 1990), Swedish chess player
- Erik Blumenthal (1914–2004), German psychologist, graphologist and psychotherapist
- Erik Bohlin (1897–1977), Swedish cyclist and motorcycle racer
- Erik Dreesen (1971–2013), German bodybuilder and strength athlete
- Erik Durm (* 1992), German football team at Borussia Dortmund (as of 2015) and 2014 world champion
- Erik Guay (* 1981), Canadian ski racer
- Erik "Legion" Hagstedt (* 20th century), Swedish musician
- Nils Erik Hellsten (1886–1962), Swedish fencer, Olympic medalist in 1924
- Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema (1917–2007), Dutch writer, resistance fighter and fighter pilot
- Erik S. Klein (1926–2002), German actor
- Erik Kross (* 1956), German composer
- Erik Lesser (* 1988), German biathlete
- Erik Lindegren (1910–1968), Swedish author
- Erik Lundin (chess player) (1904–1988), Swedish chess player
- Erik Neutsch (1931–2013), German writer
- Erik Ode (1910–1983), German actor, director and voice actor
- Érik Orsenna (* 1947), French writer and scientist
- Erik Palmer-Brown (born 1997), American football player
- Erik "Gronkh" Range (* 1977), German presenter
- Erik Veje Rasmussen (* 1959), Danish handball player and handball trainer
- Erik Satie (1866–1925), French composer
- Erik Schmidt (artist, 1925) (1925–2014), Estonian painter and writer
- Erik Schmidt (artist, 1968) (* 1968), German painter, filmmaker and photographer
- Erik Schmidt (* 1977), German politician (FDP), see Erik Roost
- Erik Schmidt (handball player) (* 1992), German handball player
- Erik Silvester (1942–2008), German pop singer
- Erik van der Wurff (1945–2014), Dutch composer
- Erik Weiselius (* 1984), Swedish pool player
- Erik Zabel (* 1970), German racing cyclist
family name
- Laine Erik (* 1942), Estonian middle-distance runner
name day
Catholic and Evangelical: May 18th
stage name
- Erik (* 1964), German comic artist
- Non-Eric (* 1960), German musician and producer
- Wreckless Eric (born 1954), English rock singer
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Duden. Lexicon of first names. 6., rework. Edition Mannheim / Zurich 2013, s. v. Erich and Erik .