Origin: |
Erica (or Erika) is a feminine form of Eric/Erik, the younger form of the Old Norse Eiríkr. The first element is either the Old Norse einn "one, alone, unique," or ei "ever, always, eternity" and the second is from ríkr "ruler, mighty." Erica is also the Latin for "heather". It further serves as the botanical name for the genus as well as the common name for 'winter heather'. |
Usage: |
The masculine form, Erik, was prolific in Scandinavia from the early Middle Ages onwards. Dating from the 9th century onwards, there were no fewer than six Danish kings, five Norwegian kings and fourteen Swedish kings to bear the name Erik. Some of the early Viking raiders brought the name with the over to Britain — Eric Haakonsson (960s–1020s) was not only the governor of Norway, he was also Earl of Northumberland — but it saw only limited usage here, and did not survive the Norman Conquest. It was revived in Scotland from at least the 17th century, perhaps because of the links Scotland had with Scandinavia at the time. Though it was used in small numbers before, it only came back into popular use in England and Wales in the 19th century, inspired by Frederic Farrar's Eric: or Little by Little (1858). As for the feminine form Erika, its usage as a name came comparatively late. According to the excellent database Nordic Names, the earliest documented use for Erika in Denmark was 1686, with the 18th century being cited for Norway and Sweden. In Britain, Erica came into use in the 19th century, especially from late 1880s when flower names became all the rage. Due to Erica being the name for heather, it seems that it owed its use at this time just as much (if not more) to its being a botanical name, as it did to being the feminine form of Eric. The letters of correspondence to The Standard newspaper in April 1892 concerning floral names mention Erica several times. One letter even recounted, "I have a dear young friend somewhere in this country who (about eleven years ago) was christened Erica [...] Her parents, it was rumoured, had plighted their troth "Out in the sunshine, over the heather."" The name may even have been promoted by Edna Lyalls novel We Two (1884) in which the heroine was named Erica. A breakdown of the number of registrations in E&W for Erica and Erika per decade are as follow:
Leslie Dunkling's sample for girls named Erica and Erika in every 10,000 births are as follows:
Since 1996, both Erica and Erika have remained quite consistent in their popularity and usage in England and Wales. Erica has remained within the top 500, while Erika has maintained a rank of between #450 and #700. In Scotland, Erica has been marginally more popular, ranking mostly in the top 400 since 1974. It's lowest rank was #799 (2 births) in 1992 and it's highest was #186 (26 births) in 1981. In 2015, Erica ranked #350 (134 births) in England and Wales and #236 (17 births) in Scotland. |
Famous Bearers: |
History: * Erika Liebman (1738–1803), Swedish poet. Contemporary: * Erica Jong (born 1942), American author. Literature and Other Media: * Erica Kane, a long-running character on the American soap opera All My Children. |
Variants: |
Erika (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian), Eerika (Finnish) |
Pronunciation: |
E-ree-kə [key] |
Possible diminutives: |
Eri, Riki |
Sibling Names: |
Anya Marnie Frida Lois Maxine Briony |
Name Lists: |
If you like Erica you may also like: |
Thanks to Joan for requesting this name.