| Pronunciation | /ˈɛrɪkə/ Italian: [ˈɛːrika] German: [ˈeːʁika] Japanese: [ˈɛːrika] |
|---|---|
| Gender | Female |
| Origin | |
| Word/name | Old Norse, Japanese |
| Meaning | "eternal ruler", "ever powerful" (Germanic) |
| Region of origin | Germania, Japan |
| Other names | |
| Related names | Eric, Erik, Frederica, Frederick |
The given name Erika is a female name with multiple meanings of Old Norse and Japanese origin.
Erika and the variants Erica, Ericka, or Ereka are feminine forms of Eric, derived from the Old Norse name Eiríkr (or Eríkr in Eastern Scandinavia due to monophthongization). The first element, ei- is derived either from the older Proto-Norse *aina(z), meaning "one, alone, unique",[1] as in the form Æinrikr explicitly, or from *aiwa(z) "long time, eternity".[2] The second element -ríkr stems either from *ríks "king, ruler" (cf. Gothic reiks) or from the therefrom derived *ríkijaz "kingly, powerful, rich".[3] The name is thus usually taken to mean "sole ruler, monarch" or "eternal ruler, ever powerful".[4] It is a common name in many Western societies.
Erika (えりか , エリカ) is a common female Japanese given name in Japan. It has multiple meanings depending on the kanji. The Japanese origin of the given name has nothing in common with the Nordic roots of the Western version. Erica is also the name of a genus of approximately 860 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae, commonly known as "heaths" or "heathers" in English, and is the Latin word for "heather".[5]