Erich

Where Erich comes from

Erich hasn't made it into the dictionaries we draw on, and nobody well known enough for an encyclopedia has carried it yet — so for now its story is the one the SSA record tells. Names that spell a familiar sound a new way often live here for a while before anyone writes them down.

Along the way
  1. 1894
    First appearance
    #954 among boys, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1898
    Erich Maria Remarque born
    German-born novelist
  3. 1900
    Erich Fromm born
    German-American sociologist and psychoanalyst
  4. 1971
    Peak, #441
    343 babies named Erich — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1995
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #876.
In the dictionary

No dictionary entry for this spelling — which is its own kind of rare.

Namesakes
  • Erich Maria Remarque · German-born novelist, 1898–1970
  • Erich Fromm · German-American sociologist and psychoanalyst, 1900–1980
  • Erich Honecker · former leader of East Germany, General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party, 1912–1994
  • Erich Ludendorff · German general and politician, 1865–1937
  • Erich Kästner · German children's writer, 1899–1974

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.