what does this word mean?

Guest   Fri Dec 23, 2005 7:05 am GMT
what does the word "eric" mean in English? I have heard it many times, but I dunno what it means
I am not a native English speaker
Uriel   Fri Dec 23, 2005 7:09 am GMT
Eric is a boy's name.
Brennus   Fri Dec 23, 2005 7:46 am GMT
"Eric" is not a name traditionally used by English speaking peoples at all. When I was growing up in Seatlle in the 1950's & 60's almost all of the boys I knew named "Eric" were of Scandinavian heritage Eric Anderson, Eric Magnuson, Eric Molson etc. Surprisingly, the name occasionally appears among French and Hispanics (e.g. actor Eric Estrada) because there is a St. Eric in the Catholic Church - a 12th century Swedish king who strengthened Christianity in Sweden and also took it to Finland.
Adam   Fri Dec 23, 2005 4:26 pm GMT
Yes, it is. There are LOADS of Erics in Britain.
Uriel   Fri Dec 23, 2005 7:39 pm GMT
Well, Brennus, I've known plenty of Erics and it's a fairly common name.
Deborah   Fri Dec 23, 2005 10:58 pm GMT
None of the American Erics I've known have Scandinavian roots.
Tiffany   Fri Dec 23, 2005 11:01 pm GMT
Known lots of Erics - maybe some of them were of Scandinavian heritage, but certainly not all, and none of them paraded around their heritage. Popular name here. I'd be hard-pressed to assign it to any one nationality or ethnicity.
Guest   Fri Dec 23, 2005 11:03 pm GMT
There are a lot of Erics in France.
Eric   Sat Feb 18, 2006 12:49 am GMT
An ancient Swedish royal name (originally Airikr) meaning single-handed ruler or always ruler it dates back to the 1000 century. The current form of the name dates back to the 1200 century. Also the name on Sweden’s protection saint (hence St. Eric) as explained by Brennus.
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Fredrik from Norway   Sat Feb 18, 2006 1:42 am GMT
And also the "last name" of one of America's discoverers:
Leif Eiriksson, son of Eirik the Red.