Erik
A germanic name that most Poles have never come across, though that's shifting: more boys got it last year than in any year before. It carries the sense "ever ruler", and in Poland it's gone exclusively to boys.
Erik Pronunciation
Erik is pronounced E-reek (/ˈɛrik/).
What Erik means
Where Erik comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Erik comes from the Old Norse Eiríkr, built from roots meaning "ever" and "ruler." The Polish gloss keeps that shape: wieczny władca. It is a Germanic name that took hold in Scandinavia and spread from there.
The most famous early bearer sailed west. Erik the Red, exiled from Iceland, founded the Norse settlement on Greenland around the year 985. A century or so later Sweden had its own Erik, King Erik IX, later venerated as a saint and long counted among the country's patrons. So the meaning "ever ruler" found real rulers to wear it.
In Poland the name arrives with no diminutives of its own, spelled plainly as Erik. A boy writes it on a school register and the four letters sit there, bare. Its name-day falls on May 18, the feast tied to that Swedish king.
The idea of endurance in "ever" is the older half of the word, older than any single Erik who claimed it. What lasts is the pairing: ever, and ruler.
How many people are named Erik
1 in 13185 men in Poland is named Erik. 1,621 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #770 among male names.
Erik's popularity over time
37 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #410 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2004.
Where parents choose Erik
Erik is most popular in Lower Silesian, 121% above the national average (19 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Pomeranian (+111%) and Masovian (+81%). It is least common in Kuyavian-Pomeranian and Warmian-Masurian, 67% and 49% below average respectively.
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Lower Silesian
+121%1 in 8,270 babies
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Pomeranian
+111%1 in 8,666 babies
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Masovian
+81%1 in 10,122 babies
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian
−67%1 in 54,690 babies
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Warmian-Masurian
−49%1 in 35,897 babies
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Podlaskie
−44%1 in 32,893 babies
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Lower Silesian+121% 19 born1 in 8,270 babies+121%
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Pomeranian+111% 17 born1 in 8,666 babies+111%
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Masovian+81% 35 born1 in 10,122 babies+81%
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West Pomeranian+52% 7 born1 in 12,061 babies+52%
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Łódź+1% 7 born1 in 18,103 babies+1%
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Lesser Poland−19% 10 born1 in 22,692 babies−19%
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Silesian−28% 9 born1 in 25,287 babies−28%
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Greater Poland−32% 8 born1 in 26,905 babies−32%
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Podlaskie−44% 2 born1 in 32,893 babies−44%
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Warmian-Masurian−49% 2 born1 in 35,897 babies−49%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian−67% 2 born1 in 54,690 babies−67%
Erik as a middle name
Erik is a first name for 1,621 men in Poland and a middle name for another 317, an 84/16 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 392nd, between Rufin (320) and Joshua (315).
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#390 Ewaryst321
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#391 Rufin320
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#392 Erik317
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#393 Joshua315
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#394 Zbyszko315