Yanay
A masculine name of Biblical Hebrew origin meaning "to sing praises".
Name Census estimates that about 60 living Americans carry the first name Yanay. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yanay today is around 6 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yanay births was 2022 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yanay. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Yanay. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
60
~ 1 in 5,712,572 Americans
Peak year
2022
22 babies that year
Average age
6
years old
2024 SSA rank
#15,131
Tracked since 2009
Census
Yanay in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 216 people with the first name Yanay, which placed it at #36,618 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
#36,618
National first-name rank
People counted
216
216 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
85.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yanay
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yanay is Hispanic at 85.2%. The next largest groups are Black (7.4%) and White (6.5%). 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 Yanay 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 Yanay at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino85.2% · 184
- Black or African American7.4% · 16
- White6.5% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 2
Popularity
Yanay: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yanay 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 45 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
Yanay 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 Yanay during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yanays live
Origin
Meaning and history of Yanay
The name Yanay is of Quechua origin, originating from the ancient Inca civilization of South America. It is believed to have emerged during the 13th to 16th century period of the Inca Empire, which spanned parts of modern-day Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Colombia.
Yanay is derived from the Quechua word "yanay," which translates to "black" or "dark." This suggests that the name may have been initially used to describe someone with darker skin complexion or dark hair color. In the Quechua language, names often held symbolic meanings related to nature, physical traits, or desired qualities.
While no specific historical references to the name Yanay have been found in ancient Inca texts or religious scriptures, it is likely that the name was in use among the indigenous Quechua-speaking populations during the height of the Inca Empire.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Yanay can be found in the 16th century, when Spanish conquistadors encountered and documented various indigenous names during their conquest of the Inca Empire. However, the specific individual or context in which the name was recorded is unclear.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Yanay:
1. Yanay Churinawa (c. 1550 - unknown), was a Quechua leader and translator who assisted the Spanish in their early interactions with the Inca people.
2. Yanay Quispe (c. 1600 - unknown), was a Quechua artist known for his intricate textile weaving and designs during the Spanish colonial period.
3. Yanay Huaman (c. 1650 - unknown), was a Quechua healer and herbalist renowned for her knowledge of traditional Inca medicine.
4. Yanay Tupa (c. 1700 - unknown), was a Quechua poet and storyteller who preserved oral traditions and histories through his works.
5. Yanay Ccori (c. 1850 - unknown), was a Quechua musician and composer who helped preserve traditional Inca music and instruments during the late colonial period.
It is important to note that due to the historical marginalization and lack of record-keeping of indigenous communities, many details about these individuals and their exact birth and death dates may not be accurately documented or preserved.
People
Yanay + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yanay 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
Yanay: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yanay?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 60 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yanay 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 5,712,572 US residents.
Is Yanay a common name?
We classify Yanay as "Very Rare". It ranks above 57.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 60 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yanay most popular?
The single biggest year for Yanay was 2022, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yanay is about 6 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yanay in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 216 people with the name Yanay, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,618 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 Yanay 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 Yanay?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yanay leans strongly female. 195 people counted with this name were female (91.5%), compared with 18 male bearers (8.5%). 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 Yanay?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yanay is Hispanic at 85.2%. The next largest groups are Black (7.4%) and White (6.5%). 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 Yanay most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Yanay in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.2% (184 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 Yanay in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yanay a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yanay 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 Yanay still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yanay 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 Yanay 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 Yanay?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.