Yaman
A masculine Arabic name derived from the root meaning "right side" or "prosperity".
Name Census estimates that about 320 living Americans carry the first name Yaman. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Yaman today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yaman births was 2024 (72 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yaman. 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 Yaman with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
320
~ 1 in 1,071,107 Americans
Peak year
2024
72 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,088
Tracked since 1997
Census
Yaman in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 362 people with the first name Yaman, which placed it at #25,958 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
#25,958
National first-name rank
People counted
362
362 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yaman
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yaman is White at 77.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (15.7%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). 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 Yaman 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 Yaman at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.3% · 280
- Asian and Pacific Islander15.7% · 57
- Two or more races3.3% · 12
- Black or African American2.8% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 1
Popularity
Yaman: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yaman from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 171 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
Yaman 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 Yaman during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yamans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Texas, New York, California recorded the most babies named Yaman, while Ohio, Florida, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Yaman
The name Yaman has its origins in the Arabic language and culture, tracing back to ancient times. It is derived from the Arabic word "yaman," which means "right" or "right-handed," signifying auspiciousness, good fortune, and blessings.
Historically, the name Yaman has been associated with the region of Yemen, located in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula. This area was known as "Yaman" or "Arabia Felix" (Fertile Arabia) in ancient times, renowned for its fertile lands, rich cultural heritage, and strategic location along trade routes.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Yaman can be found in the Quran, the holy book of Islam. In the Quran, the word "Yaman" is mentioned in several verses, often in the context of direction or prosperity.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Yaman. One of the earliest was Yaman ibn Rabiah (580-629 CE), a prominent Arab poet and warrior during the pre-Islamic era. He was known for his eloquent verses and his bravery in battles.
Another famous bearer of the name was Yaman al-Baghdadi (980-1051 CE), a renowned Arabic scholar and philosopher from Baghdad, known for his contributions to the fields of logic, mathematics, and astronomy.
In the 12th century, Yaman al-Dimashqi (1141-1215 CE) was a renowned Muslim scholar, historian, and traveler from Damascus. He authored several important works on geography, history, and the sciences.
During the Ottoman Empire, Yaman Dede (1455-1548 CE) was a prominent Ottoman poet and Sufi mystic, known for his spiritual verses and contributions to the development of Turkish literature.
In more recent times, Yaman Okur (1938-2001) was a respected Turkish author and journalist, renowned for his novels and short stories that explored human experiences and societal issues.
These are just a few examples of influential figures throughout history who have borne the name Yaman, reflecting its deep-rooted cultural significance and association with erudition, wisdom, and literary prowess.
People
Yaman + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yaman 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
Yaman: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yaman?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 320 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yaman 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 1,071,107 US residents.
Is Yaman a common name?
We classify Yaman as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 323 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yaman most popular?
The single biggest year for Yaman was 2024, when 72 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yaman is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yaman in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 362 people with the name Yaman, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,958 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 Yaman 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 Yaman?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Yaman on both sides of the split. Of the 362 people counted with this name, 284 were male (78.5%) and 78 were female (21.5%). 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 Yaman?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yaman is White at 77.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (15.7%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). 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 Yaman most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Yaman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.3% (280 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 Yaman in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yaman a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yaman 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 Yaman still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yaman 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 Yaman 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 Yaman?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.