Ya
A Chinese unisex name meaning "elegant" or "beautiful".
Name Census estimates that about 38 living Americans carry the first name Ya. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 87.2% of registrations being female. The average person named Ya today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ya births was 2001 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ya. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ya. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
38
~ 1 in 9,019,851 Americans
Peak year
2001
9 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
1984 SSA rank
#7,322
Tracked since 1984
Gender
Gender distribution for Ya
Ya leans heavily female at 87.2% of total registrations, but 5 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ya as a male name
- Ranked #7,322 in 1984
- 5 male births in 1984
- Peak: 1984 (5 births)
Ya as a female name
- Ranked #18,716 in 2004
- 5 female births in 2004
- Peak: 2001 (9 births)
Popularity
Ya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ya from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 28 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ya by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ya
The given name Ya has its origins in several ancient languages and cultures. It is a monosyllabic name that has been used across various regions and time periods.
In ancient Egyptian mythology, the name Ya was associated with the sun god Ra. It was a variant spelling of the word "iah," which meant "moon" or "light." This name was often used in religious texts and inscriptions related to sun worship and the cult of Ra.
In Hebrew, the name Ya is a shortened form of the name Yahweh, which is one of the most sacred names for God in the Old Testament. It is believed to have originated from the Hebrew verb "hayah," meaning "to be" or "to exist." This name appears in various biblical texts and is considered a holy name in Jewish tradition.
In ancient Greek mythology, the name Ya was sometimes used as a variant spelling of the name Aia, which was the personification of the earth or the goddess of fertility. It was also associated with the concept of "life-force" or "vital essence."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ya dates back to the 14th century BCE. An Egyptian pharaoh named Ya'ammu was mentioned in the Amarna letters, which were diplomatic correspondences between the Egyptian court and other ancient Near Eastern rulers.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Ya or its variations:
1. Ya'akov ben Asher (1269-1343), a prominent Jewish scholar and codifier of Jewish law from Germany.
2. Ya'qub ibn Ishaq al-Kindi (c. 801-873), an Arab philosopher, mathematician, and scientist who is considered one of the first great Islamic philosophers.
3. Ya'qub ibn al-Laith al-Saffar (840-879), the founder of the Saffarid dynasty in Persia and the first independent ruler of Sistan.
4. Ya'qub ibn Killis (930-991), a renowned Arab mathematician and engineer who made significant contributions to the fields of geometry and mechanics.
5. Ya Hanizsnai (1573-1627), a Japanese Buddhist monk and scholar who played a crucial role in the revival of Zen Buddhism during the Edo period.
These are just a few examples of individuals from various cultures and time periods who bore the name Ya or its variations, reflecting its diverse origins and historical significance.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Ya
People
Ya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ya as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Y
Other first names starting with Y with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 38 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ya going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 9,019,851 US residents.
Is Ya a common name?
We classify Ya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 50.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 39 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ya most popular?
The single biggest year for Ya was 2001, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ya is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Ya a female name?
Yes, 87.2% of people registered as Ya in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.