Yancey
Meaning "full of grace", a masculine given name possibly of French origin.
Name Census estimates that about 1,237 living Americans carry the first name Yancey. It is a predominantly male name (97.8% of registrations). The average person named Yancey today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yancey births was 1971 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yancey. 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
1.2K
~ 1 in 277,085 Americans
Peak year
1971
48 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2020 SSA rank
#10,555
Tracked since 1894
Gender
Gender distribution for Yancey
Yancey leans heavily male at 97.8% of total registrations, but 34 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Yancey as a male name
- Ranked #10,555 in 2020
- 7 male births in 2020
- Peak: 1971 (48 births)
Yancey as a female name
- Ranked #11,594 in 2004
- 9 female births in 2004
- Peak: 2004 (9 births)
Popularity
Yancey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yancey from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 392 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yancey 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 Yancey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yanceys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Texas, Georgia, Alabama recorded the most babies named Yancey, while Virginia, New York, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Yancey
The name Yancey is an English surname that has been adopted as a given name, particularly in the United States. It is derived from the Old English word "geance," which means "to advance or go forward." The name was originally a locational surname, likely referring to someone who lived near a promontory or projecting piece of land.
Yancey can be traced back to the Middle Ages in England, where it was spelled in various ways, including Yancey, Yancie, Yancy, and Yauncy. The earliest recorded use of the name dates back to the 13th century, when it appeared in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Yancey was Sir Robert Yancey, an English knight who fought in the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 during the Hundred Years' War between England and France. He was recognized for his bravery and valor on the battlefield.
In the 16th century, the name Yancey appeared in the works of William Shakespeare. In his play "The Merry Wives of Windsor," one of the characters is referred to as "Master Yancey," suggesting that the name was in use during the Elizabethan era.
During the American Revolutionary War, Yancey was the given name of Yancey Bright (1738-1813), a soldier and farmer from Virginia who fought in the Continental Army. He was known for his courage and dedication to the cause of American independence.
Another notable figure was Yancey Pitts (1788-1870), a politician from Kentucky who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1833 to 1837. He was an advocate for the rights of Native Americans and played a role in the negotiations leading to the removal of the Cherokee Nation from their ancestral lands.
In the 19th century, Yancey Pridmore (1837-1913) was a Baptist minister and educator from Mississippi. He founded several schools and colleges, including Blue Mountain College, and was instrumental in promoting education in the southern United States.
While the name Yancey is not as common today as it once was, it continues to hold historical significance and is a reminder of the rich cultural heritage of English and American naming traditions.
People
Yancey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yancey 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
Yancey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yancey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,237 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yancey 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 277,085 US residents.
Is Yancey a common name?
We classify Yancey as "Rare". It ranks above 91.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,537 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yancey most popular?
The single biggest year for Yancey was 1971, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yancey is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Yancey a male name?
Yes, 97.8% of people registered as Yancey 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.
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.