'Erika' (and the male version 'Erik') is an ancient nordic (/germanic) name, meaning 'powerful' or 'ruler'. 'Erica' (male 'Eric' and 'Derek') is a modern english variation. Both names are still in use.

Eirca is the traditional way to spell that name. Erika sounds the same, but looks cooler to some young people. Also, it's unqiue. This famous rapper calls himself Outkast (Outcast) by taking a normal word and filling in the K. But I don't suggest you start replacing C's with K's in normal writing, that's just krazy.

In America, both Erika and Erica are pronounced the same way. The spelling differences are usually because of differences in origin, or more commonly these days, personal preference. You could use either without confusion in pronunciation, though I'm inclined to think that 'Erica' is the variant used most often in English speaking countries. If you choose Erika, you might need to tell people it's spelled with a k when occasion calls for it.

Domasla had some good background on the meaning of the name. I'm guessing that you are trying to pick a common English name to use. If that is the case, then either would be good, but Erica is slightly more common than Erika is. (If a new person told me their name, they might say "My name is Erica" and I'd assume the most common spelling, or "My name is Erika, with a K" to distinguish that it is a slightly unusual spelling.) Here is a website that shows the popularity of baby names by year in the US: http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/ According to this site, Erica was the 31st most common baby name given to a girl if you were born in 1987 in the US (meaning it's very popular!) and Erika was the 75th most common. Now, a couple decades later, they are both ranking around 300th most common for babies today, so there are few young babies with that name, and lots of 20 and 30 year olds with that name. Hope this helps you make your decision!

I didn't like my name(Erica) either so I changed the spelling to Erykah.. It gets everyone's attention and it's unique. When asked why it's spelling like that.. I tell them cause I hated it. Now my name has grown on me.