Erie vs Erik
American parents have registered 158,126 Eriks since 1880, against 3,440 Eries. Erik is still ahead, with 549 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Erie Erik
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 145 years in which either name was published, Erik for 91 years and Erie for 54 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.
Side by side
| Erie | Erik | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 3,440 | 158,126 |
| Most in one year | 81 | 4,959 |
| Babies in 2025 | 6 | 549 |
| Estimated living today | 1,800 | 147,000 |
| Median age today | 53 | 37 |
| Peak year | 1970 | 1980 |
| Best rank | 895th boys | 64th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | 545th |
| First recorded | 1880 | 1911 |
| Girls / boys | 1,482 / 1,958 | 665 / 157,461 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Eries alive today are over 53; half the Eriks are over 37. That is 16 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Erie Mississippi (6.4×), Alabama (3.2×), New York (2.8×)
- Erik Alaska (2.3×), California (2.0×), Washington (2.0×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Erie and Erik.