Jerik
Germanic name combining elements meaning "noble" and "ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 202 living Americans carry the first name Jerik. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jerik today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jerik births was 2011 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jerik. 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
202
~ 1 in 1,696,804 Americans
Peak year
2011
15 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2020 SSA rank
#9,070
Tracked since 1986
Census
Jerik in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 226 people with the first name Jerik, which placed it at #35,529 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
#35,529
National first-name rank
People counted
226
226 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
40.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jerik
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jerik is White at 40.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (38.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.5%). 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 Jerik 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 Jerik at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White40.3% · 91
- Hispanic or Latino38.1% · 86
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.5% · 17
- Two or more races7.1% · 16
- Black or African American6.2% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 2
Popularity
Jerik: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jerik 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 85 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jerik 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 Jerik during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jerik
The name Jerik is a rare and intriguing given name with a complex history that spans multiple cultures and languages. Its origins can be traced back to the Old Norse language, where it likely derived from the root words "jer" meaning "spear" and "rik" meaning "ruler" or "powerful." This combination suggests that the name may have originally signified a powerful warrior or chieftain in ancient Norse societies.
In the Middle Ages, variations of the name, such as "Jeric" and "Jerick," appeared in Germanic regions of Europe, particularly in areas that were influenced by Norse culture and mythology. During this time, the name may have been associated with strength, bravery, and leadership qualities that were highly valued in medieval societies.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Jerik was a Norwegian chieftain who lived in the 9th century. Historical records indicate that he led a group of Norse settlers to the Faroe Islands, where they established a new community.
In the 12th century, a French knight named Jerik de Montfort was known for his involvement in the Crusades. He participated in the Third Crusade and is mentioned in several accounts of the siege of Acre in 1191.
During the Renaissance period, a Dutch painter named Jerik van der Heyden (1637-1712) gained recognition for his detailed and meticulous cityscapes depicting 17th-century Amsterdam.
In the 19th century, a Swedish explorer named Jerik Nordenskiöld (1832-1901) made significant contributions to Arctic exploration. He led several expeditions to Greenland and the Svalbard archipelago, and his scientific observations helped advance the understanding of polar regions.
Another notable figure was Jerik Eriksson (1858-1935), a Swedish engineer and industrialist who played a crucial role in the development of the Swedish ball bearing industry. He founded the company that would later become SKF, one of the world's largest producers of bearings and other industrial components.
While the name Jerik is not as common as other names in modern times, its rich history and associations with strength, leadership, and exploration make it a unique and intriguing choice for parents seeking a name with a powerful and distinctive heritage.
People
Jerik + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jerik as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jerik: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jerik?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 202 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jerik 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 1,696,804 US residents.
Is Jerik a common name?
We classify Jerik as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 204 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jerik most popular?
The single biggest year for Jerik was 2011, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jerik is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jerik in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 226 people with the name Jerik, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,529 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 Jerik 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 Jerik?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jerik appears almost entirely male. Of the 227 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Jerik?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jerik is White at 40.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (38.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.5%). 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 Jerik most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jerik in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.3% (91 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 Jerik in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jerik a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jerik 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 Jerik still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jerik 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 Jerik 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 Jerik?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Jerik at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.