Yali
A feminine name of Quechua origin meaning "from home" or "home woman".
Name Census estimates that about 125 living Americans carry the first name Yali. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 75.4% of registrations being female. The average person named Yali today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yali births was 2022 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yali. 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.
People living today
125
~ 1 in 2,742,035 Americans
Peak year
2022
18 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2022 SSA rank
#12,065
Tracked since 2004
Census
Yali in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 790 people with the first name Yali, which placed it at #14,793 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
#14,793
National first-name rank
People counted
790
790 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
73.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yali
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yali is Asian/Pacific Islander at 73.7%. The next largest groups are White (14.7%) and Hispanic (9.7%). 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 Yali 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 Yali at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander73.7% · 582
- White14.7% · 116
- Hispanic or Latino9.7% · 77
- Black or African American1.0% · 8
- Two or more races0.8% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Yali
Yali is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 126 total registrations, 31 (24.6%) were male and 95 (75.4%) were female.
Yali as a male name
- Ranked #12,258 in 2022
- 6 male births in 2022
- Peak: 2016 (8 births)
Yali as a female name
- Ranked #12,065 in 2024
- 8 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (12 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yali leans strongly female. 690 people counted with this name were female (86.9%), compared with 104 male bearers (13.1%).
Popularity
Yali: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yali from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 53 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
Yali 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 Yali during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yalis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Yali
The name Yali is believed to have its origins in the Hebrew language, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew word "yalah," which means "to ascend" or "to go up." This name carries connotations of elevation, growth, and progress.
In ancient Hebrew texts, Yali is mentioned as a personal name, though its exact historical context is not entirely clear. Some scholars suggest it may have been associated with individuals who excelled in their pursuits or achieved significant accomplishments.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Yali can be found in the Book of Nehemiah, a historical book from the Hebrew Bible. Nehemiah, a Jewish leader and governor of Judah, is said to have had a servant named Yali mentioned in chapter 11, verse 7.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Yali. One such individual was Yali Rokhlin (1889-1937), a Soviet military leader and commander during the Russian Civil War and the early years of the Soviet Union.
Another prominent figure was Yali Faitelson (1890-1972), a Jewish writer and playwright from Ukraine who wrote extensively in the Yiddish language. His works explored themes of Jewish identity, culture, and the struggles of life in the early 20th century.
In the realm of education, Yali Amit (born 1945) is a notable Israeli computer scientist and professor at Tel Aviv University, known for her contributions to the field of computer vision and pattern recognition.
Yali Mundlak (born 1927) is an Israeli economist and professor emeritus at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, renowned for his work on agricultural economics and econometrics.
Lastly, Yali Sheshter (born 1946) is an Israeli artist and sculptor, known for her innovative use of materials and exploration of themes such as memory, identity, and the human condition.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have borne the name Yali throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields and disciplines.
People
Yali + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yali 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
Yali: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yali?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 125 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yali 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 2,742,035 US residents.
Is Yali a common name?
We classify Yali as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 126 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yali most popular?
The single biggest year for Yali was 2022, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yali is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yali in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 790 people with the name Yali, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,793 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 Yali 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 Yali?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yali leans strongly female. 690 people counted with this name were female (86.9%), compared with 104 male bearers (13.1%). 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 Yali?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yali is Asian/Pacific Islander at 73.7%. The next largest groups are White (14.7%) and Hispanic (9.7%). 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 Yali most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Yali in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.7% (582 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 Yali in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yali a female name?
Yes, 75.4% of people registered as Yali 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 Yali still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yali 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 Yali 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 named Yali?
Find out how many people share the name Yali on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.