Yalda
A Persian name referring to the winter solstice celebration.
Name Census estimates that about 116 living Americans carry the first name Yalda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yalda today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yalda births was 2022 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yalda. 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 Yalda with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
116
~ 1 in 2,954,779 Americans
Peak year
2022
13 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,204
Tracked since 1982
Census
Yalda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 577 people with the first name Yalda, which placed it at #18,616 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
#18,616
National first-name rank
People counted
577
577 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
47.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yalda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yalda is White at 47.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (32.9%) and Two or More Races (17.3%). 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 Yalda 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 Yalda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.3% · 273
- Asian and Pacific Islander32.9% · 190
- Two or more races17.3% · 100
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 14
Popularity
Yalda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yalda from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 43 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
Yalda 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 Yalda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yaldas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Yalda
The name Yalda is of Persian origin, derived from the ancient Iranian word "Yalda," which means "birth" or "rebirth." This name is closely associated with the ancient Persian festival of Yalda, also known as the Iranian Winter Solstice celebration, which marks the longest night of the year and the beginning of the gradual lengthening of days.
The Yalda festival has its roots in the Zoroastrian tradition and has been celebrated in Iran and other regions with Persian cultural influence for centuries. It is a celebration of light, hope, and renewal, symbolizing the victory of light over darkness and the promise of a new beginning.
The name Yalda is not commonly found in ancient texts or religious scriptures, but its association with the Yalda festival and the Persian culture has given it a rich historical significance. It has been used as a given name for females in Iran and other Persian-speaking regions for centuries.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Yalda can be found in the works of the 12th-century Persian poet and philosopher, Nizami Ganjavi. In his epic poem, Haft Paykar (Seven Beauties), he mentions a character named Yalda, who is portrayed as a beautiful and intelligent woman.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Yalda, including:
1. Yalda Hakim (1899-1975), an Iranian painter and sculptor, known for her contributions to the modernist art movement in Iran.
2. Yalda Abbasi (born 1983), an Iranian-American actress and model, best known for her roles in television series such as "NCIS" and "Rizzoli & Isles."
3. Yalda Moaiery (born 1980), an Iranian-American journalist and writer, known for her coverage of human rights issues and her work as a correspondent for various news outlets.
4. Yalda Hakim (born 1983), an Afghan-Australian journalist and news presenter, currently working for the BBC World News.
5. Yalda Deldar (born 1982), an Iranian-American actress and model, known for her roles in films such as "Iron Man" and "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2."
While the name Yalda has its roots in the Persian culture, it has transcended borders and has been embraced by people of various backgrounds, particularly those with an appreciation for its rich historical and cultural significance.
People
Yalda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yalda 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
Yalda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yalda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 116 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yalda 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 2,954,779 US residents.
Is Yalda a common name?
We classify Yalda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 118 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yalda most popular?
The single biggest year for Yalda was 2022, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yalda is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yalda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 577 people with the name Yalda, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,616 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 Yalda 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 Yalda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yalda leans strongly female. 539 people counted with this name were female (93.4%), compared with 38 male bearers (6.6%). 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 Yalda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yalda is White at 47.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (32.9%) and Two or More Races (17.3%). 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 Yalda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Yalda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.3% (273 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 Yalda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yalda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yalda 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 Yalda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yalda 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 Yalda 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 Yalda?
You can see how many Americans are named Yalda on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.