Given name & surname · also English, Old Norse
Erland
“from the nobleman's land”·“a foreigner; stranger”
Erland is used as a given name and a surname. Interpretations include “from the nobleman's land” and “a foreigner; stranger”. These belong to different or overlapping naming contexts.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Interpretations include “from the nobleman's land” and “a foreigner; stranger”. These belong to different or overlapping naming contexts.
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Old Norse.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1901. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Erland through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 478
- 478 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1917
- 24 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 7 in 1982. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 24 in 1917. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 278 as a first name in 2020; 230 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Erland’s family of names
In Danish usage, Erland shares a linguistic root with the Norwegian form Erlend. Erland has a related form in Erlin. Erland has a related form in Erlyn.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 13
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Erlinvariant
- Erlanvariant
- Earlenvariant
- Earlynvariant
- Earlinvariant
- Earlandvariant
- Erlenvariant
- Erlynvariant
Show 5 moreShow fewer
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Erland
- Erland JosephsonSwedish actor, film director and author (1923-2012)
- Erland JohnsenNorwegian footballerborn 1967
- Erland NordenskiöldSwedish archeologist and anthropologist (1877–1932)
- Erland HerkenrathSwiss handball player (1912-2003)
- Erland von KochSwedish composer, educator, conductor, organist and pianist (1910–2009)
- Erland Samuel BringSwedish mathematician1736–1798
- Erland KopsDanish badminton player (1937–2017)
- Erland Van Lidth De JeudeAmerican sport wrestler and actor (1953–1987)
- Erland Almqvistsailor1912–1999
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Erland, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Arvid
“from the eagle's tree”
>99% boys
Olaf
“the last of the ancestors”
>99% boys
Edmond
“a wealthy protector”
>99% boys
Ingolf
“ing's wolf”
>99% boys
Aage
“representative of ancestors”
>99% boys
Arne
“resembling an eagle”
>99% boys
Thorald
“follower of Thor”
>99% boys
Eskel
“from the cauldron of the gods”
>99% boys