1) Use the person's first or middle name (assuming you and/or the person whom you are honoring are part of a culture where it's okay to use the name of someone who is still living. If not, adjust according to what is acceptable in your respective cultures). Eric's not an automatic kick-me name, so I think it could work very nicely as a middle name for your baby.
2) Use a version of the name that is used in a different country. (This works best for names that are used widely.) Eric and variants are used mainly in Scandinavia, and most of the variants look an awful lot like Eric, so I'm not sure that'll be helpful here.
3) Use a name with a meaning that is the same as the meaning of the original name, or a name that contains an element with the same meaning. Eric is composed of elements meaning "one" and "ruler" so I think any name meaning ruler, king, etc., could be justified here.
4) If you think the honoree enjoys puzzles and word games, you could stretch it and use an anagram. (For instance, if you were honoring a Diana, you could name the baby Nadia or Aidan.) Oddly enough, that's not out of the question here - I knew a little girl named Ceri who was absolutely beautiful.
Beyond this, IMO, you are really getting too far away from the original name to really justifiably claim that you are naming the baby "after" the person in question.
no subject
1) Use the person's first or middle name (assuming you and/or the person whom you are honoring are part of a culture where it's okay to use the name of someone who is still living. If not, adjust according to what is acceptable in your respective cultures). Eric's not an automatic kick-me name, so I think it could work very nicely as a middle name for your baby.
2) Use a version of the name that is used in a different country. (This works best for names that are used widely.) Eric and variants are used mainly in Scandinavia, and most of the variants look an awful lot like Eric, so I'm not sure that'll be helpful here.
3) Use a name with a meaning that is the same as the meaning of the original name, or a name that contains an element with the same meaning. Eric is composed of elements meaning "one" and "ruler" so I think any name meaning ruler, king, etc., could be justified here.
4) If you think the honoree enjoys puzzles and word games, you could stretch it and use an anagram. (For instance, if you were honoring a Diana, you could name the baby Nadia or Aidan.) Oddly enough, that's not out of the question here - I knew a little girl named Ceri who was absolutely beautiful.
Beyond this, IMO, you are really getting too far away from the original name to really justifiably claim that you are naming the baby "after" the person in question.