Erica
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "ever ruler, hardy".
Name Census estimates that about 218,226 living Americans carry the first name Erica. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Erica today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Erica births was 1986 (10,031 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Erica. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Erica with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Erica is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 1,024 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1980s, recent registration numbers for Erica have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
218K
~ 1 in 1,571 Americans
Peak year
1986
10,031 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2005 SSA rank
#1,487
Tracked since 1909
Census
Erica in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 215,653 people with the first name Erica, which placed it at #259 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
#259
National first-name rank
People counted
216K
215,653 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
71.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Erica
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Erica is White at 52.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.4%) and Black (18.3%). 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 Erica 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 Erica at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.9% · 114,015
- Hispanic or Latino22.4% · 48,254
- Black or African American18.3% · 39,494
- Two or more races3.4% · 7,413
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 5,186
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1,291
Gender
Gender distribution for Erica
Out of the 232,485 babies given the name Erica since 1880, 99.6% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Erica as a male name
- Ranked #10,498 in 2005
- 6 male births in 2005
- Peak: 1989 (68 births)
Erica as a female name
- Ranked #1,487 in 2024
- 146 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1986 (9,972 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Erica appears almost entirely female. Of the 215,652 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Erica: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Erica from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 93,684 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
Erica 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 Erica during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ericas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Erica, while Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 4,501 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Erica
The name Erica is derived from the Greek word "erike", meaning "heather". It is believed to have originated in ancient Greece, where heather was a common plant found throughout the region. The name was likely given to girls as a reference to the beauty and resilience of the heather plant.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Erica can be found in the works of the ancient Greek poet Theocritus, who lived in the 3rd century BC. In his idylls, he mentioned a character named Erica, though little is known about her significance.
During the Roman era, the name Erica gained popularity as the Romans adopted many Greek names. It is mentioned in several ancient texts and inscriptions, indicating its use among both Greek and Roman families.
In the Middle Ages, the name Erica fell out of favor in most parts of Europe, but it maintained a presence in certain regions, particularly in Scandinavia and the British Isles. One notable figure from this period was Erica the Brave, a 10th-century Norwegian noblewoman known for her courage and leadership during Viking raids.
The name Erica experienced a resurgence in popularity during the Renaissance period, particularly in Italy and other parts of southern Europe. One of the most famous bearers of this name was Erica Pio di Savoia (1475-1521), an Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts who played a significant role in the cultural renaissance of her time.
In more recent history, several notable figures have borne the name Erica. These include Erica Terwilliger (1899-1992), an American painter and illustrator; Erica Jong (born 1942), an American novelist known for her work "Fear of Flying"; and Erica Durance (born 1978), a Canadian actress best known for her role as Lois Lane in the television series "Smallville".
Throughout its long history, the name Erica has maintained its association with beauty, resilience, and a connection to nature, reflecting its origins in the ancient Greek word for heather.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Erica
People
Erica + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Erica 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
Erica: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Erica?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 218,226 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Erica 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 1,571 US residents.
Is Erica a common name?
We classify Erica as "Common". It ranks above 99.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 232,485 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Erica most popular?
The single biggest year for Erica was 1986, when 10,031 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Erica is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Erica in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 215,653 people with the name Erica, or 71.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #259 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 Erica 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 Erica?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Erica appears almost entirely female. Of the 215,652 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Erica?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Erica is White at 52.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.4%) and Black (18.3%). 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 Erica most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Erica in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.9% (114,015 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 Erica in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Erica a female name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Erica in the SSA data are female. 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 Erica still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Erica 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 Erica 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 Americans are named Erica?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.