How common is the name Eric?

767,096 people in the United States have the first name Eric, about 1 in 394. It ranks #41 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

ERIC

#41

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
767,096
About
1 in 394
This common or more
18.7%
Who bears it

Of the 767,096 people named Eric, 66.7% reported their origin as White, 14% as Hispanic or Latino and 12% as Black. Virtually all are male (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Eric peaked in 1970, when 23,719 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1970
Births that year
23,719
In 2025*
1,256 ▼95%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 893,184 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Eric by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1970s, when it ranked #21. The largest share of babies named Eric, 36.5%, were born between 1965 and 1980, Generation X's birth years.

1880s#1,138122
1890s#1,062204
1900s#1,111262
1910s#9201,311
1920s#8902,027
1930s#7112,796
1940s#32015,212
1950s#15853,444
1960s#52152,878
1970s#21212,825
1980s#29205,707
1990s#47135,708
2000s#9669,629
2010s#22231,582
2020s#4329,477
Before 19010%
Greatest Generation 1901–270.4%
Silent Generation 1928–451%
Baby boom 1946–6414%
Generation X 1965–8036.5%
Millennials 1981–9632.3%
Generation Z 1997–1212.4%
2013 and later3.3%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Eric is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Eric has been most common in District of Columbia (1.6×), Alaska (1.5×), and Delaware (1.4×), and least common in Mississippi (0.62×).

888,305 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Eric

#39 Sandra · 780,828#40 Nancy · 772,570#42 Michelle · 757,098#43 Kenneth · 755,679

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Eric, most common first.

#259 Erica · 215,652#410 Erik · 137,631#675 Erick · 78,395#2,365 Erich · 10,617#7,247 Eris · 2,123#17,184 Eriq · 646#28,083 Erico · 322#28,678 Erric · 312

Also a last name

As a last name, Eric ranks #36,342 of 156,621, with 663 people. See Eric as a last name

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