Eryk
A short name carrying a big claim: "ever ruler", grouped in Polish records among Slavic names. It goes to boys and boys only, and it still lands inside the country's 300 most-given names, familiar without being everywhere.
Eryk Pronunciation
Eryk is pronounced E-rihk (/ˈɛrɨk/).
What Eryk means
Where Eryk comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Eryk renders in Polish as wieczny władca, an ever ruler. The meaning is bold for so short a name, and Polish records keep it grouped among Slavic names. That sense of an unending rule gives the name its backbone, and the variants turn it toward girls: eryka and erika grow from the same root.
Every 18 May the calendar marks Eryk's imieniny. The day honours Saint Eric IX Jedvardsson, a king of Sweden, so a real crowned ruler stands behind the greeting cards. A child called Eryk shares his day with a king.
Read the register of a Polish first-grade class and Eryk turns up often near the top, four clean letters, easy to call across a room. The K gives it a firm ending. Whatever else shifts around it, the name still means what it always has: ever ruler, wieczny władca.
When Eryk celebrates name day
Eryk appears 3 times in the Polish name day calendar, 1 of them as a main name, the first on 18 May.
The days Polish calendars list this name on. By custom you celebrate one of them, usually the first after your birthday.
Rarer dates. Only the most complete calendars add this name on these days. Most skip them, so hardly anyone celebrates then.
How many people are named Eryk
1 in 713 men in Poland is named Eryk. 29,934 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #241 among male names.
Eryk's popularity over time
405 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #124 among newborns. It has been falling steadily since 2000.
Where Eryk is most popular
Eryk is most popular in Lesser Poland, 38% above the national average (504 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Opole (+37%) and Silesian (+34%). It is least common in Świętokrzyskie and Kuyavian-Pomeranian, 35% and 24% below average respectively.
-
Lesser Poland504 boys born+38%
-
Opole102 boys born+37%
-
Silesian492 boys born+34%
-
Subcarpathian240 boys born+23%
-
Pomeranian245 boys born+3%
-
Łódź207 boys born+1%
-
Lubusz80 boys born0%
-
Warmian-Masurian113 boys born−2%
-
Lower Silesian224 boys born−12%
-
Greater Poland306 boys born−12%
-
Podlaskie89 boys born−16%
-
West Pomeranian111 boys born−18%
-
Lublin132 boys born−20%
-
Masovian447 boys born−22%
-
Kuyavian-Pomeranian134 boys born−24%
-
Świętokrzyskie58 boys born−35%
Eryk as a middle name
Eryk is a first name for 29,934 men in Poland and a middle name for another 8,159, a 79/21 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 108th, between Teodor (8,218) and Nikodem (8,103).
-
#106 Walenty9,384
-
#107 Teodor8,218
-
#108 Eryk8,159
-
#109 Nikodem8,103
-
#110 Romuald7,947