Aarik
A Scandinavian name meaning "eagle army" or "ruler of eagles".
Name Census estimates that about 228 living Americans carry the first name Aarik. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Aarik today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aarik births was 2017 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aarik. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
228
~ 1 in 1,503,309 Americans
Peak year
2017
19 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,444
Tracked since 1983
Census
Aarik in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 205 people with the first name Aarik, which placed it at #37,817 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#37,817
National first-name rank
People counted
205
205 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
41.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aarik
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aarik is White at 41.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (19.5%) and Hispanic (15.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Aarik described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Aarik at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White41.5% · 85
- Asian and Pacific Islander19.5% · 40
- Hispanic or Latino15.6% · 32
- Black or African American14.6% · 30
- Two or more races7.8% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 2
Popularity
Aarik: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aarik from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 110 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Aarik remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aarik by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Aarik during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aariks live
Origin
Meaning and history of Aarik
The name Aarik has its origins in the Old Norse language, which was spoken by the Vikings and other Scandinavian peoples during the Viking Age, from around the 8th to the 11th centuries. It is derived from the Old Norse word "ārr," meaning "messenger" or "warrior," and the suffix "-ik," which is a diminutive form.
According to historical records, the name Aarik first appeared in ancient Norse sagas and manuscripts, such as the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, which were written in the 13th century. These sagas and poems often depicted heroic figures and warriors, and it is likely that the name Aarik was used to represent a valiant and noble character.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Aarik was a Norse chieftain who lived in the 9th century. He was known for his bravery in battle and his leadership skills, and his name was mentioned in several Viking chronicles and sagas.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Aarik. In the 12th century, Aarik the Red was a famous Viking explorer who is believed to have led expeditions to Greenland and possibly even North America. Another Aarik, born in the 14th century, was a renowned Icelandic poet and scholar who contributed significantly to the preservation of Old Norse literature.
During the Middle Ages, the name Aarik was also found in parts of Europe where Viking influence was strong, such as in England and Scotland. One of the most famous bearers of the name was Aarik of Northumbria, a powerful English nobleman who lived in the 11th century and played a significant role in the conflicts between the Anglo-Saxons and the Normans.
In more recent times, Aarik has remained a popular name in Scandinavian countries, particularly in Iceland and Norway. Some notable individuals with this name include Aarik Vike, a 20th-century Norwegian author, and Aarik Baltzersen, a contemporary Norwegian musician and composer.
While the name Aarik has its roots in ancient Norse culture, it has evolved and been adopted by various cultures over the centuries, reflecting the enduring influence of Viking history and mythology.
People
Aarik + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aarik as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Aarik: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aarik?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 228 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aarik going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,503,309 US residents.
Is Aarik a common name?
We classify Aarik as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 230 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aarik most popular?
The single biggest year for Aarik was 2017, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aarik is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aarik in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 205 people with the name Aarik, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,817 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Aarik in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Aarik?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aarik leans strongly male. 205 people counted with this name were male (98.1%), compared with 4 female bearers (1.9%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Aarik?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aarik is White at 41.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (19.5%) and Hispanic (15.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Aarik most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Aarik in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.5% (85 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Aarik in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aarik a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aarik in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Aarik still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aarik in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Aarik can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Aarik?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.