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 [ 3 syll. e-ri-ca, er-ica ] The girl name Erica is pronounced EHRihKah KEY. Erica has its origins in the Old Norse language. It is used largely in English, French, German, Scandinavian, and Scottish. The meaning of Erica is 'ever ruling, lone ruler, island ruler'. Derived from ei which means 'ever, always' ; einn which means 'alone, lone' ; rikr which means 'ruler'. Erica is also the Latin name for the plant heather, and this could have promoted the adoption of the first name. English speakers first adopted the name in the late 18th century. In Scotland, it is sometimes taken as an Anglicized form of the Gaelic Oighrig. Erica is the feminine equivalent of the English, French, and Scandinavian Eric. Erica has 20 forms that are used in both English and foreign languages. English forms of the name include Airika, Arica, Arika, Errika, Erykah, Rickee, Rika (used in Dutch, Hungarian, and German too), Rikky, and Terica. Other English forms include the short form Rica (used in German too), the pet forms Rick, Ricki, Rickie, Ricky, and Rikki, and the spelling variants Ericka and Erika (used in German, and Scandinavian too). Forms of Erica used in foreign languages include the Finnish Eerika, the Hawaiian Elika, and the Portuguese Érica. See also the related form, the Scottish Oighrig. Erica is popular as a baby girl name. The name increased in popularity from the 1940s up to the 1980s. At the peak of its usage in 1983, 0.543% of baby girls were named Erica. It was #33 in rank then. The baby name has experienced a decline in frequency since then. In 2008, it ranked at #293 with a usage of only 0.054%, but it was nevertheless the most popular out of all girl names in its family. Erica was used 11% more than the next ranked name, the English, German, and Scandinavian Erika, in 2008. Baby names that sound like Erica include the English Ericka, the English, German, and Scandinavian Erika, the English Errika, the English Airika, the Portuguese Érica, the Indian Erisha, the English Erykah, the Czech and Latvian Irka, the English Ursa, the English Ursie, the English Ursy, and the English Urse. KEY: Pronunciation for Erica: EH as in "Ed (EH.D)" ; R as in "read (R.IY.D)" ; IH as in "it (IH.T)" ; K as in "key (K.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)"   |
