Erek
Meaning "eternal ruler" of Turkish origin.
Name Census estimates that about 645 living Americans carry the first name Erek. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Erek today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Erek births was 1990 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Erek. 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
645
~ 1 in 531,402 Americans
Peak year
1990
30 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,288
Tracked since 1967
Census
Erek in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 571 people with the first name Erek, which placed it at #18,776 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
#18,776
National first-name rank
People counted
571
571 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Erek
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Erek is White at 58.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.0%) and Black (16.8%). 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 Erek 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 Erek at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.7% · 335
- Hispanic or Latino18.0% · 103
- Black or African American16.8% · 96
- Two or more races4.2% · 24
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 3
Popularity
Erek: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Erek from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 189 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Erek 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 Erek during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ereks live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, Illinois, California recorded the most babies named Erek, while California, Illinois, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Erek
The name Erek is believed to have originated from the Old Norse language, which was spoken by the ancient Scandinavian people during the Viking Age (circa 800-1050 AD). The name is derived from the Old Norse word "eirikriki," which translates to "eternal ruler" or "ever-powerful ruler."
In ancient Norse mythology, the name Erek was sometimes associated with the god Odin, who was revered as the ruler of the Aesir gods and the all-father of the Norse pantheon. The name may have been given to male children in hopes that they would grow to become strong and powerful leaders.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Erek can be found in the Old Norse saga "Ereks saga víðförla," which dates back to the 13th century. This saga tells the story of a heroic Norse warrior named Erek, who embarks on a series of adventures and battles across various lands.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Erek. One of the most prominent was Erek the Red (c. 950-1003), a legendary Norse chieftain and explorer who is credited with being one of the first Europeans to set foot in North America, predating the voyages of Christopher Columbus by nearly 500 years.
Another historical figure with the name Erek was Erek Magnusson (c. 1130-1187), a Norwegian nobleman and military commander who played a pivotal role in the civil wars that plagued Norway during the 12th century. He was known for his bravery and strategic prowess on the battlefield.
In the realm of literature, the name Erek is featured in the Middle High German courtly romance "Erec and Enide" by the medieval poet Hartmann von Aue (c. 1170-1210). The story follows the adventures of a knight named Erec and his wife, Enide, as they navigate challenges and prove their worth as a couple.
In the field of science, the name Erek belongs to Erek Yeşilada (1867-1933), a Turkish botanist and pharmacognosist who made significant contributions to the study of medicinal plants and their properties. He is credited with discovering several new plant species and publishing numerous scientific works on the subject.
Finally, in the world of sports, Erek Hansen (born 1979) is a former American professional basketball player who spent several seasons playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for teams such as the Milwaukee Bucks and the Utah Jazz.
People
Erek + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Erek as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Erek: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Erek?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 645 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Erek 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 531,402 US residents.
Is Erek a common name?
We classify Erek as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 671 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Erek most popular?
The single biggest year for Erek was 1990, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Erek is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Erek in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 571 people with the name Erek, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,776 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 Erek 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 Erek?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Erek appears almost entirely male. Of the 566 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Erek?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Erek is White at 58.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.0%) and Black (16.8%). 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 Erek most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Erek in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.7% (335 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 Erek in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Erek a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Erek 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 Erek still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Erek 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 Erek 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 many people have the name Erek?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Erek, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.