Yanai
A Japanese masculine name meaning "willow"
Name Census estimates that about 139 living Americans carry the first name Yanai. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 70.2% of registrations being female. The average person named Yanai today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yanai births was 2023 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yanai. 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 Yanai with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
139
~ 1 in 2,465,859 Americans
Peak year
2023
22 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,028
Tracked since 1986
Census
Yanai in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 233 people with the first name Yanai, which placed it at #34,862 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
#34,862
National first-name rank
People counted
233
233 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
43.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yanai
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yanai is Hispanic at 43.8%. The next largest groups are White (20.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (18.5%). 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 Yanai 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 Yanai at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino43.8% · 102
- White20.2% · 47
- Asian and Pacific Islander18.5% · 43
- Black or African American16.3% · 38
- Two or more races1.3% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Yanai
Yanai is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 141 total registrations, 42 (29.8%) were male and 99 (70.2%) were female.
Yanai as a male name
- Ranked #14,144 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (9 births)
Yanai as a female name
- Ranked #11,028 in 2024
- 9 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (13 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Yanai on both sides of the split. Of the 233 people counted with this name, 60 were male (25.8%) and 173 were female (74.2%).
Popularity
Yanai: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yanai from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 74 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
Yanai 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 Yanai during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yanais live
Origin
Meaning and history of Yanai
The given name Yanai has its roots in the Hebrew language and culture, originating in ancient times. This name is believed to be derived from the Hebrew word "yayin," which means "wine." It may have been a reference to the occupation of winemaking or a connection to the grapevine in the region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Yanai can be found in the Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism. The Talmud mentions a prominent rabbi named Yannai, who lived in the 3rd century CE and was a renowned scholar of Jewish law and tradition. His full name, Yannai Hasandlar, suggests that the name Yanai was already in use during this period.
In the 7th century CE, another notable figure bearing the name Yanai emerged. Yanai Ibn Abi al-Hajjaj was a renowned Jewish poet and grammarian who lived in the city of Medina, which was part of the Islamic Empire at the time. His contributions to the study of Arabic grammar and poetry were significant.
During the Middle Ages, the name Yanai gained popularity among Jewish communities in various parts of Europe. One of the most famous bearers of this name was Yanai ben Gershon, a French Jewish philosopher and astronomer who lived in the 11th century. He made significant contributions to the understanding of cosmology and the motion of celestial bodies.
In the 14th century, another prominent figure named Yanai emerged in Spain. Yanai ben Mosheh Halevi was a renowned Jewish physician and philosopher who lived in Seville. He wrote extensively on medical topics and was also known for his works on Jewish philosophy and theology.
Moving forward to the 16th century, Yanai Ashkenazi was a prominent Jewish scholar and rabbi who lived in Italy. He was known for his expertise in Talmudic studies and his contributions to the interpretation of Jewish law.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who bore the name Yanai throughout history, demonstrating its longstanding presence and significance within the Jewish tradition and culture. While the name's popularity may have fluctuated over time, its rich historical roots and associations with scholarly and cultural achievements have ensured its enduring legacy.
People
Yanai + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yanai 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
Yanai: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yanai?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 139 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yanai 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 2,465,859 US residents.
Is Yanai a common name?
We classify Yanai as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 141 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yanai most popular?
The single biggest year for Yanai was 2023, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yanai is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yanai in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 233 people with the name Yanai, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,862 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 Yanai 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 Yanai?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Yanai on both sides of the split. Of the 233 people counted with this name, 60 were male (25.8%) and 173 were female (74.2%). 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 Yanai?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yanai is Hispanic at 43.8%. The next largest groups are White (20.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (18.5%). 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 Yanai most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Yanai in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.8% (102 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 Yanai in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yanai a female name?
Yes, 70.2% of people registered as Yanai 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 Yanai still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yanai 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 Yanai 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 have the name Yanai?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.