Erikka
A feminine name of Scandinavian origin, a variant of Erika meaning "ever ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 926 living Americans carry the first name Erikka. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Erikka today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Erikka births was 1990 (50 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Erikka. 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
926
~ 1 in 370,145 Americans
Peak year
1990
50 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2010 SSA rank
#10,662
Tracked since 1967
Census
Erikka in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 869 people with the first name Erikka, which placed it at #13,773 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
#13,773
National first-name rank
People counted
869
869 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Erikka
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Erikka is White at 49.7%. The next largest groups are Black (30.0%) and Hispanic (12.5%). 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 Erikka 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 Erikka at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.7% · 432
- Black or African American30.0% · 261
- Hispanic or Latino12.5% · 109
- Two or more races5.8% · 50
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 7
Popularity
Erikka: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Erikka from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 323 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
Erikka 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 Erikka during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Erikkas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, Michigan, Washington recorded the most babies named Erikka, while Ohio, New York, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Erikka
The name Erikka has its roots in ancient Scandinavia, derived from the Old Norse name Erik or Eirikr. This name is composed of two elements: ei, meaning "ever" or "always," and rik, meaning "ruler" or "king." The name Erikka is a feminine form of this name, which originated around the 9th century CE in the Viking era.
The first recorded use of the name Erik dates back to the 9th century, with the legendary Norwegian Viking king Erik the Red (950-1003 CE). He gained his epithet due to his red hair and beard and is best known for establishing the first Norse settlement in Greenland. Another notable figure was Erik the Victorious (945-995 CE), a Swedish king who successfully defended his kingdom against Norwegian invaders.
In the 11th century, the name Erik appeared in the Old English epic poem Beowulf, where it referred to a Danish prince. This literary reference suggests the name's widespread use among Scandinavian and Germanic populations during that time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Erikka or its variants. One of the earliest recorded was Erikka of Falkenau (c. 1180-1238 CE), a German noblewoman and abbess of the Cistercian convent in Falkenau, Saxony. Another was Erikka of Denmark (c. 1240-1312 CE), a Danish princess and the wife of King Eric V of Denmark.
In the 16th century, Erikka Sparre (1583-1624 CE) was a Swedish noblewoman and one of the most prominent figures in the Swedish court during the reigns of King Charles IX and King Gustavus Adolphus. She played a significant role in politics and diplomacy during the Kalmar War between Sweden and Denmark.
Moving forward to the 19th century, Erikka Wilkinson (1820-1891 CE) was an American educator and abolitionist who fought for the rights of enslaved people and established several schools for African American children in the Southern United States.
The name Erikka has endured through the centuries, carrying a rich history and cultural significance from its Scandinavian origins. Its meaning as "ever ruler" or "eternal king" has been embodied by notable figures throughout history, reflecting the strength and resilience of this name.
People
Erikka + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Erikka 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
Erikka: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Erikka?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 926 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Erikka 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 370,145 US residents.
Is Erikka a common name?
We classify Erikka as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 981 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Erikka most popular?
The single biggest year for Erikka was 1990, when 50 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Erikka 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 Erikka in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 869 people with the name Erikka, or 0.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,773 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 Erikka 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 Erikka?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Erikka appears almost entirely female. Of the 870 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Erikka?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Erikka is White at 49.7%. The next largest groups are Black (30.0%) and Hispanic (12.5%). 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 Erikka most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Erikka in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.7% (432 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 Erikka in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Erikka a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Erikka 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 Erikka still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Erikka 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 Erikka 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 share the name Erikka?
Find out how many people have the name Erikka on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.