 Rikissa received her name in honor of her maternal grandmother, the late Rikissa of Denmark, queen of Sweden – the Scandinavian custom was to give names of deceased grandmothers to daughters of a family, and a first-born daughter was usually christened as namesake of maternal grandmother, if she was no longer alive.In 1250, her uncle, King Eric, died without heirs and her brother, the underaged Valdemar of Sweden became king through his mother, and her father Jarl Birger became regent of Sweden.Jarl Birger's policy included efforts to keep the peace between Scandinavia's three kingdoms and to strengthen his own already powerful family's influence.