Yakir
A Hebrew masculine name meaning "rare" or "precious".
Name Census estimates that about 72 living Americans carry the first name Yakir. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Yakir today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yakir births was 2010 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yakir. 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 Yakir. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
72
~ 1 in 4,760,477 Americans
Peak year
2010
9 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2022 SSA rank
#14,239
Tracked since 2000
Popularity
Yakir: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yakir from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 35 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yakir 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 Yakir during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Yakir
The name Yakir is of Hebrew origin, derived from the Biblical Hebrew word "yakar" which means "precious" or "valuable." It is a relatively uncommon name in modern times but has a rich historical background dating back to ancient Israel.
The earliest recorded reference to the name Yakir can be found in the Hebrew Bible, specifically in the Book of Samuel. Yakir is mentioned as the name of one of the mighty warriors in the army of King David, who ruled over the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah in the 10th century BCE.
In the Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism, there is a reference to a sage named Yakir who lived during the era of the Tannaim, the earliest Jewish scholars who lived between the 1st and 3rd centuries CE. This Yakir is described as a wealthy and respected individual who hosted many scholars in his home.
Another notable figure in Jewish history with the name Yakir was Yakir Hazaz, an Israeli author and playwright who lived from 1911 to 1978. He was a prominent figure in the revival of the Hebrew language and is considered one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew literature.
In the 11th century, there was a Jewish philosopher and grammarian named Yakir ben Isaac ha-Levi who was born in North Africa and later lived in Spain. He is best known for his work on Hebrew grammar and his commentaries on the Bible.
More recently, Yakir Aharonov is an Israeli physicist born in 1932, known for his contributions to the field of quantum mechanics and his work on the Aharonov-Bohm effect, which has had a significant impact on our understanding of quantum theory.
While not as common today, the name Yakir continues to be used in some Jewish communities, carrying the meaning of "precious" or "valuable" and serving as a reminder of its rich historical and cultural significance.
People
Yakir + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yakir 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
Yakir: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yakir?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 72 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yakir 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 4,760,477 US residents.
Is Yakir a common name?
We classify Yakir as "Very Rare". It ranks above 59.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 73 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yakir most popular?
The single biggest year for Yakir was 2010, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yakir is about 16 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 Yakir in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yakir a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yakir 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 Yakir still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yakir 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 Yakir 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 Americans are named Yakir?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.