Yanci
Meaning "graceful, elegant" derived from Chinese origins.
Name Census estimates that about 199 living Americans carry the first name Yanci. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yanci today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yanci births was 2006 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yanci. 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
199
~ 1 in 1,722,384 Americans
Peak year
2006
16 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2022 SSA rank
#17,647
Tracked since 1990
Popularity
Yanci: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yanci from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 105 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yanci 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 Yanci 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 Yanci
The name Yanci has its origins in ancient Chinese culture, dating back to around the 5th century BCE. It is believed to be derived from the combination of two words in Classical Chinese: "yan," which means "speech" or "words," and "ci," which translates to "poetry" or "verse." Thus, the name Yanci could be interpreted as "poetic words" or "eloquent speech."
During the Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BCE), the art of poetry and literature flourished in China, with many renowned poets and scholars emerging. It is possible that the name Yanci was first bestowed upon individuals who excelled in these fields or displayed a talent for eloquence and linguistic mastery.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Yanci can be found in the classic Chinese text, "The Book of Songs" (Shijing), which dates back to the 6th century BCE. This anthology of ancient Chinese poetry and songs includes a poem titled "Yanci," suggesting that the name may have been in use during that era.
Throughout Chinese history, several notable figures have borne the name Yanci. One such individual was Yanci Zhangsun (589–676 CE), a celebrated poet and scholar during the Tang Dynasty. His works were highly influential and contributed to the development of the renowned "regulated verse" (lüshi) poetic form.
Another prominent figure was Yanci Ouyang (1007–1072 CE), a renowned statesman, historian, and calligrapher of the Song Dynasty. He is best known for his monumental work, "New Book of Tang" (Xin Tangshu), a comprehensive historical record of the Tang Dynasty.
During the Ming Dynasty, Yanci Xu (1520–1596 CE) was a respected scholar and official who served as a minister in the imperial court. He was known for his literary talents and his contributions to the study of Confucian classics.
In the Qing Dynasty, Yanci Zeng (1671–1735 CE) was a prominent scholar and poet who played a significant role in the revival of interest in classical Chinese literature and poetry.
Yanci Gu (1789–1854 CE) was a notable scholar and calligrapher of the late Qing Dynasty, renowned for his expertise in the study of ancient texts and his mastery of calligraphic styles.
People
Yanci + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yanci 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
Yanci: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yanci?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 199 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yanci 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 1,722,384 US residents.
Is Yanci a common name?
We classify Yanci as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 203 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yanci most popular?
The single biggest year for Yanci was 2006, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yanci is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Yanci a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yanci 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.
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.