Yamina
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "toward the right hand".
Name Census estimates that about 183 living Americans carry the first name Yamina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yamina today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yamina births was 1995 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yamina. 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 Yamina with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
183
~ 1 in 1,872,975 Americans
Peak year
1995
11 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#17,534
Tracked since 1978
Census
Yamina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 468 people with the first name Yamina, which placed it at #21,612 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
#21,612
National first-name rank
People counted
468
468 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
39.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yamina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yamina is Hispanic at 39.7%. The next largest groups are White (33.3%) and Black (18.2%). 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 Yamina 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 Yamina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino39.7% · 186
- White33.3% · 156
- Black or African American18.2% · 85
- Two or more races4.9% · 23
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.8% · 18
Popularity
Yamina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yamina from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 55 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Yamina remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yamina 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 Yamina 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 Yamina
The name Yamina is of Arabic origin, derived from the root word "yamin," which means "right hand" or "blessed." It is a feminine name that has been used primarily in the Middle East and North Africa for centuries.
In the Arabic language, the right hand symbolizes strength, power, and blessings. Thus, the name Yamina carries connotations of auspiciousness and good fortune. It is believed that the name first emerged during the early Islamic era, around the 7th century AD, when Arabic culture and language were spreading across the region.
While the name Yamina does not appear explicitly in religious texts or ancient scriptures, it has been a popular choice among Arab communities for generations. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be traced back to medieval times, when it was used by notable figures in various fields.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Yamina was Yamina bint Abi Hashim (born around 810 AD), a renowned poet and scholar from Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate. Her literary works and contributions to Arabic literature have been celebrated throughout history.
Another notable figure was Yamina bint Al-Muqaddam (1091-1163), a Moroccan scholar and mystic who played a significant role in the development of Sufism in North Africa. Her teachings and writings have greatly influenced Islamic spirituality and philosophy.
In more recent history, Yamina Rachid (1910-2013) was a prominent Algerian activist and feminist who fought for women's rights and independence during the Algerian War. Her unwavering commitment to social justice and equality made her an iconic figure in Algeria's struggle for liberation.
Yamina Bakiri (born 1959) is a renowned Algerian novelist and playwright, whose works explore themes of identity, culture, and the experiences of women in modern Algerian society. Her literary contributions have earned her numerous awards and international recognition.
Yamina Benguigui (born 1959) is a French filmmaker and activist of Algerian descent. Her documentary and feature films often focus on the lives of immigrant communities and the challenges they face, shedding light on important social and cultural issues.
These are just a few examples of influential individuals who have borne the name Yamina throughout history, each contributing to their respective fields and leaving a lasting impact on their communities and societies.
People
Yamina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yamina 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
Yamina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yamina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 183 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yamina 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 1,872,975 US residents.
Is Yamina a common name?
We classify Yamina as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 187 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yamina most popular?
The single biggest year for Yamina was 1995, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yamina is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yamina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 468 people with the name Yamina, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,612 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 Yamina 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 Yamina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yamina appears almost entirely female. Of the 468 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Yamina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yamina is Hispanic at 39.7%. The next largest groups are White (33.3%) and Black (18.2%). 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 Yamina most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Yamina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.7% (186 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 Yamina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yamina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yamina 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 Yamina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yamina 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 Yamina 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 Americans are named Yamina?
See how many people share the name Yamina on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.