Erik
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Old Norse, feminine equivalent Erika and Erica, equivalent to English Eric. From Old Norse Eiríkr, from Proto-Norse *Aiwa-rikiaʀ (literally “ever ruler”).
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Erik (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Erik has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 1998. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 947 |
| 1999 | 921 |
| 2000 | 851 |
| 2001 | 820 |
| 2002 | 899 |
| 2003 | 830 |
| 2004 | 836 |
| 2005 | 707 |
| 2006 | 717 |
| 2007 | 684 |
| 2008 | 628 |
| 2009 | 570 |
| 2010 | 613 |
| 2011 | 508 |
| 2012 | 463 |
| 2013 | 408 |
| 2014 | 382 |
| 2015 | 352 |
| 2016 | 311 |
| 2017 | 271 |
| 2018 | 253 |
| 2019 | 207 |
| 2020 | 192 |
| 2021 | 169 |
| 2022 | 159 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 76,616 |
| 2000 | 74,839 |
| 2001 | 73,179 |
| 2002 | 71,655 |
| 2003 | 70,176 |
| 2004 | 68,830 |
| 2005 | 67,441 |
| 2006 | 66,229 |
| 2007 | 65,306 |
| 2008 | 64,435 |
| 2009 | 63,603 |
| 2010 | 62,771 |
| 2011 | 61,970 |
| 2012 | 61,294 |
| 2013 | 60,532 |
| 2014 | 59,905 |
| 2015 | 59,267 |
| 2016 | 58,625 |
| 2017 | 57,983 |
| 2018 | 57,409 |
| 2019 | 56,728 |
| 2020 | 55,968 |
Erik in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Erik.Hi! My name is Erik.
- Erik har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Erik has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Eriks mamma är lärare.Erik's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Eriks mamma is Erik's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Erik
How do you pronounce Erik in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Erik from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Erik mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Old Norse, feminine equivalent Erika and Erica, equivalent to English Eric. From Old Norse Eiríkr, from Proto-Norse *Aiwa-rikiaʀ (literally “ever ruler”).
How popular is Erik in Sweden?
159 babies were named Erik in 2022. In 2020, 55,968 people in Sweden had Erik as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 1998 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.