Erykah
A feminine name of uncertain origin, potentially derived from Hebrew meaning "ruler, leader".
Name Census estimates that about 1,519 living Americans carry the first name Erykah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Erykah today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Erykah births was 1997 (279 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Erykah. 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
1.5K
~ 1 in 225,645 Americans
Peak year
1997
279 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,702
Tracked since 1997
Popularity
Erykah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Erykah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 685 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Erykah 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 Erykah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Erykahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 24 states and territories. California, Florida, Texas recorded the most babies named Erykah, while District of Columbia, Wisconsin, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 31 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Erykah
The name Erykah is a relatively modern variation of the traditional Hebrew name Erica, which itself derives from the Old Norse word "Eirikr," meaning "eternal ruler." This name gained popularity during the Viking Age, particularly in Scandinavia and parts of northern Europe.
While the name Erica has been documented in various historical records throughout the centuries, the specific spelling "Erykah" is a more recent development. One of the earliest known notable individuals to bear this particular spelling was Erykah Badu, the renowned American singer-songwriter and actress born in 1971.
Beyond Erykah Badu, there are a few other notable individuals who have carried this name throughout history. For instance, Erykah Doggett was a British actress known for her roles in television series like "Waterloo Road" and "Casualty" in the early 2000s.
Another individual with this name was Erykah Hawkins, an American writer and poet who published several collections of poetry in the late 20th century, including "Crave" (1996) and "Shedding Light" (2001).
In the field of sports, Erykah Simmons was a Canadian basketball player who competed professionally in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for teams like the Phoenix Mercury and the San Antonio Stars in the early 2000s.
Additionally, Erykah Vaughn was a notable American artist and sculptor active in the late 20th century, known for her intricate metal sculptures and installations that explored themes of identity and cultural representation.
While the name Erykah has roots in ancient languages and cultures, its modern usage and popularity can be attributed to its unique and distinctive spelling, setting it apart from the more traditional variations of the name.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Erykah
People
Erykah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Erykah 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
Erykah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Erykah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,519 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Erykah 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 225,645 US residents.
Is Erykah a common name?
We classify Erykah as "Rare". It ranks above 92.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,548 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Erykah most popular?
The single biggest year for Erykah was 1997, when 279 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Erykah is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Erykah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Erykah 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.
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.