Orik
A masculine given name of Old Norse origin meaning "eternal ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 13 living Americans carry the first name Orik. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Orik today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Orik births was 2017 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Orik. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Orik. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
13
~ 1 in 26,365,718 Americans
Peak year
2017
7 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2019 SSA rank
#11,764
Tracked since 2017
Popularity
Orik: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Orik 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 Orik during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 13 | 0 | 13 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Orik
The name Orik has its origins in the ancient Germanic languages, particularly Old Norse and Old English. It is derived from the Proto-Germanic root "*rik-," which means "ruler" or "powerful." This root is also found in many other Germanic names, such as Eric, Frederick, and Richard.
In Old Norse, the name was spelled as "Órikr" or "Óríkr," while in Old English, it appeared as "Oric" or "Oric." The name was relatively common among the Norse and Anglo-Saxon populations during the early medieval period, particularly in Scandinavia and the British Isles.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Orik appears in the Old English poem "Beowulf," which dates back to around the 8th or 9th century. In the poem, Orik is mentioned as a prince of the Danes, though his significance in the narrative is relatively minor.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Orik was borne by various individuals across Europe. One notable example is Orik the Forgetful, a 12th-century Norwegian skald (poet) and courtier who served under King Sverre Sigurdsson. Another is Orik the Red, a Danish chieftain who led a band of Vikings on raids along the coasts of northern Europe in the 9th century.
During the Renaissance period, the name Orik appears to have fallen out of favor, perhaps due to the influence of the Greco-Roman tradition and the rise of classical names. However, it experienced a resurgence in the 19th century, particularly in Scandinavia, where it was revived as part of the Romantic movement's interest in Norse and Germanic culture.
One famous bearer of the name Orik in modern times was Orik Vahtrik, an Estonian chess grandmaster who competed in international tournaments during the mid-20th century (1916-1996). Another was Orik Strandberg, a Swedish painter and illustrator known for his depictions of Norse mythology and folklore (1897-1972).
Other notable individuals with the name Orik include Orik Hansson, a Swedish politician and member of the Riksdag (1913-1996), Orik Thorvaldsson, an Icelandic explorer and navigator who accompanied Erik the Red on his voyage to Greenland in the 10th century, and Orik Magnusson, a Norwegian blacksmith and metalworker who was renowned for his craftsmanship in the 13th century.
People
Orik + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Orik as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with O
Other first names starting with O with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Orik: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Orik?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 13 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Orik 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 26,365,718 US residents.
Is Orik a common name?
We classify Orik as "Very Rare". It ranks above 33.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 13 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Orik most popular?
The single biggest year for Orik was 2017, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Orik is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Orik in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Orik a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Orik 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 Orik still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Orik 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 Orik 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Orik?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Orik at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.