Yanill
A Hebrew name meaning "God favors" or "God shows grace".
Name Census estimates that about 21 living Americans carry the first name Yanill. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yanill today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yanill births was 1987 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yanill. 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 Yanill. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
21
~ 1 in 16,321,635 Americans
Peak year
1987
6 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
1993 SSA rank
#15,751
Tracked since 1987
Popularity
Yanill: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yanill from the 1980s through to the 1990s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 11 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
Yanill 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 Yanill during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yanills live
Origin
Meaning and history of Yanill
The name Yanill has its origins in the ancient Phoenician language, which was spoken in the region of modern-day Lebanon, Syria, and parts of the Mediterranean coast around 1200 BCE. It is derived from the Phoenician word "yann," meaning "grace" or "favor," and the suffix "-ill," which denotes a diminutive form.
The earliest recorded use of the name Yanill can be traced back to ancient Phoenician inscriptions and artifacts found in the city of Byblos, which was a major center of Phoenician culture. These inscriptions date back to the 8th century BCE and suggest that the name was given to both male and female children.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Yanill was a Phoenician trader and explorer who lived around 600 BCE. According to historical records, he embarked on voyages across the Mediterranean Sea and is credited with establishing trade routes and settlements in various regions, including the Iberian Peninsula.
In the 4th century BCE, a Phoenician philosopher named Yanill was renowned for his teachings on ethics and moral philosophy. His writings, though largely lost to time, were referenced by later Greek philosophers, indicating the influence of his ideas on the development of Western thought.
During the Roman era, the name Yanill gained popularity among the Phoenician communities living in the eastern Mediterranean region. One notable figure from this period was Yanill of Tyre, a skilled architect who oversaw the construction of several monumental buildings in the city of Tyre, including a grand temple dedicated to the Phoenician god Melqart.
In the Middle Ages, the name Yanill resurfaced in various forms across different cultures and languages. One example is Yanillus, a 9th-century scholar and monk from the Carolingian Empire, who is known for his contributions to the preservation of ancient manuscripts and the promotion of education.
Another individual of note was Yanill al-Andalusi, an 11th-century poet and philosopher from the Iberian Peninsula during the Islamic Golden Age. His works, written in Arabic, explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition, and were widely celebrated throughout the Muslim world.
People
Yanill + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yanill 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
Yanill: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yanill?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yanill 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 16,321,635 US residents.
Is Yanill a common name?
We classify Yanill as "Very Rare". It ranks above 40.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 22 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yanill most popular?
The single biggest year for Yanill was 1987, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yanill is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Yanill in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yanill a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yanill 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 Yanill still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yanill 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 Yanill 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Yanill?
See how many people have the name Yanill on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.