Yahdiel
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "God leads".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Yahdiel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Yahdiel today is around 4 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yahdiel births was 2022 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yahdiel. 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 Yahdiel. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2022
5 babies that year
Average age
4
years old
2022 SSA rank
#14,236
Tracked since 2022
Popularity
Yahdiel: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Yahdiel 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 Yahdiel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Yahdiel
The name Yahdiel originates from the Hebrew language and culture, with its roots dating back to ancient times. The name is derived from the combination of two Hebrew words: "Yah," which is a shortened form of the name of God, and "diel," which means "to praise" or "to extol." Together, the name Yahdiel can be interpreted as "God's praise" or "one who praises God."
Yahdiel is not explicitly mentioned in the Hebrew Bible or other ancient religious texts, but its components are found in various names and phrases throughout these sacred writings. The name's connection to the praise of God aligns with the strong emphasis on worship and reverence in the Judaic tradition.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Yahdiel was a 12th-century Jewish scholar and rabbi from Catalonia, Spain. Little is known about his life, but his name appears in several historical records from that period, indicating the name's usage among the Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula.
In the 16th century, a Yahdiel ben Yitzchak was a prominent Kabbalist and mystic who lived in Safed, a city in the Galilee region of present-day Israel. His teachings and writings on Jewish mysticism and the Kabbalah had a significant influence on the development of those traditions.
During the 17th century, Yahdiel Nahman was a renowned scribe and calligrapher who lived in Prague, Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic). He was renowned for his exquisite handwriting and the intricate illuminations he created in religious texts and manuscripts.
In the 19th century, Yahdiel Brill was a German-Jewish scholar and author who made significant contributions to the study of Jewish history and literature. Born in 1836 in Posen (now Poznan, Poland), he authored several influential works on topics such as the history of the Talmud and the lives of notable Jewish figures.
Yahdiel Kaplan, born in 1892 in Vilna (now Vilnius, Lithuania), was a prominent Zionist leader and activist who played a crucial role in the establishment of the State of Israel. He served as the president of the World Zionist Organization from 1948 until his death in 1952, and his efforts were instrumental in the creation and recognition of the Jewish homeland.
While the name Yahdiel has deep historical roots and associations with Jewish culture and tradition, its usage has remained relatively uncommon throughout history. However, it continues to hold significance as a name that honors the divine and celebrates the act of praising God.
People
Yahdiel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yahdiel 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
Yahdiel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yahdiel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yahdiel 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Yahdiel a common name?
We classify Yahdiel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yahdiel most popular?
The single biggest year for Yahdiel was 2022, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yahdiel is about 4 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Yahdiel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yahdiel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yahdiel in the SSA data are male. 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 Yahdiel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yahdiel 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 Yahdiel 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have Yahdiel as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.