Yaa
A feminine Akan name meaning "born on Thursday."
Name Census estimates that about 263 living Americans carry the first name Yaa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yaa today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yaa births was 2005 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yaa. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Yaa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
263
~ 1 in 1,303,248 Americans
Peak year
2005
13 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,368
Tracked since 1978
Census
Yaa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 696 people with the first name Yaa, which placed it at #16,263 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#16,263
National first-name rank
People counted
696
696 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
94.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yaa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yaa is Black at 94.1%. The next largest groups are White (2.6%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Yaa described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Yaa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American94.1% · 655
- White2.6% · 18
- Two or more races1.6% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Yaa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yaa from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 96 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yaa 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 Yaa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yaas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Yaa
The name Yaa is derived from the West African language Akan, spoken primarily in Ghana and the Ivory Coast. It is believed to have originated in the 15th century or earlier, during the rise of the Akan civilization in present-day Ghana.
In the Akan language, Yaa is a feminine name that means "born on Thursday." It is one of the traditional day names given to children based on the day of the week they were born. The name reflects the cultural significance of naming practices in the Akan society, where names often carry meanings related to the circumstances surrounding a child's birth.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Yaa can be found in the historical narratives of the Akan people, particularly in the oral traditions passed down through generations. These narratives often mention notable figures bearing the name, though specific dates and records are scarce due to the primarily oral nature of the Akan culture in earlier times.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Yaa. One such figure was Yaa Asantewaa (c. 1840-1923), a legendary queen mother of the Edweso clan in the Ashanti Empire (now part of modern-day Ghana). She led an Ashanti rebellion against British colonial rule in the late 19th century, becoming a symbol of resistance and courage.
Another notable bearer of the name was Yaa Naa Yakubu II (c. 1900-1974), a prominent king of the Dagomba people in northern Ghana. He played a significant role in preserving the cultural heritage and traditions of his people during the colonial and post-colonial eras.
In the realm of literature, Yaa Gyasi (born 1989) is a contemporary Ghanaian-American author known for her acclaimed debut novel "Homegoing," which explores the legacy of slavery and its impact on generations of families.
Yaa Asantewaa Nkrumah (1900-1999) was the wife of Kwame Nkrumah, the first prime minister and president of independent Ghana. She was an influential figure in her own right, advocating for women's rights and playing a key role in the Ghanaian independence movement.
Yaa Kekam Djokam (born c. 1950) is a renowned Cameroonian singer and songwriter, known for her contributions to the popularization of makossa music, a genre that blends traditional Cameroonian rhythms with modern influences.
These examples illustrate the rich cultural heritage and historical significance associated with the name Yaa, which has been borne by influential figures across various fields, from politics and activism to literature and music.
People
Yaa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yaa 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
Yaa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yaa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 263 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yaa 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 1,303,248 US residents.
Is Yaa a common name?
We classify Yaa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 269 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yaa most popular?
The single biggest year for Yaa was 2005, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yaa is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yaa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 696 people with the name Yaa, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,263 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Yaa in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Yaa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yaa leans strongly female. 689 people counted with this name were female (98.6%), compared with 10 male bearers (1.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Yaa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yaa is Black at 94.1%. The next largest groups are White (2.6%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Yaa most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Yaa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.1% (655 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Yaa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yaa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yaa 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.
Is Yaa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yaa in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Yaa can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people are called Yaa?
You can see how many people have the name Yaa on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.