Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Eric?
Births per year, rank history and how many Erics are alive today.
Eric (male) sits just outside the top 100 boys' names in England and Wales, ranked 168th in 2025 with 300 babies given the name. This spelling of the name peaked in 1924, when around 5,400 babies were given the name, the 18th most popular that year. It has declined since 1924; the 2025 figure is roughly 6% of its peak. Numbers have been falling in recent years. At least 190,000 babies have been named Eric in England and Wales since 1904. Figures before 1996 are estimates. Eric is one spelling of a name also recorded as Erik and Eryk; the combined figures below cover every spelling.
Across all spellings of the name, the Eric you are most likely to meet is around 81 years old - or else around 8: the name has two living generations. Half of all Erics born in England and Wales are between 44 and 82, and there are at least 53,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 males, there's roughly a 16% chance that at least one of them will be called Eric.
How many babies are named Eric each year?
Includes all spellings: Eric, Erik, Eryk. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
Where does the Eric spelling rank?
Where does the Erik spelling rank?
Where does the Eryk spelling rank?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Eric most popular?
Eric peaked in 1924, when around 5,400 babies in England and Wales were given the name across all spellings.
How many people are called Eric?
At least 53,000 people named Eric in any spelling born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Eric?
Most living Erics are between 44 and 82; the most common age is about 81. There is a second cluster around 8.
Is Eric becoming more or less popular?
Declining: recent figures are a fraction of the 1924 peak.