Yanna
A feminine name of Slavic origin meaning "gracious gift of God".
Name Census estimates that about 578 living Americans carry the first name Yanna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yanna today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yanna births was 2009 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yanna. 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
578
~ 1 in 593,001 Americans
Peak year
2009
33 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,383
Tracked since 1971
Popularity
Yanna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yanna from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 188 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Yanna remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yanna 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 Yanna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yannas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Yanna
The name Yanna has its origins in several ancient languages and cultures. It is derived from the Hebrew name Yohanan or Yochanan, which means "Yahweh is gracious" or "God is merciful." This name can be traced back to the Old Testament and the biblical figure of John the Baptist.
In Russian and Slavic cultures, Yanna is a diminutive form of the name Ioanna, which is the feminine equivalent of the Greek name Ioannes, also meaning "God is gracious." It is believed to have been popularized in Russia during the Middle Ages, particularly among noble families.
Yanna is also a variant of the Scandinavian name Yana, which is derived from the Greek name Ioanna. This name was common among Vikings and Norse settlers in various parts of Europe during the Viking Age (8th to 11th centuries).
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Yanna can be found in the writings of the Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea, who lived in the 6th century AD. He mentioned a woman named Yanna who was involved in a political conspiracy during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I.
Notable historical figures who bore the name Yanna include Yanna of Lezhe (c. 1366-1436), an Albanian nun and philanthropist who is venerated as a saint in the Orthodox Church. Another notable bearer of the name was Yanna Ruckert (1893-1972), a German-American actress and singer who appeared in several films during the silent era.
In the 17th century, there was a Russian noble named Yanna Mikhailovna Miloslavskaya (c. 1630-1694), who served as a lady-in-waiting to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and was known for her influence in court politics.
Yanna Andrevna Khitrovo (1764-1837) was a Russian noblewoman and courtier during the reign of Catherine the Great. She was known for her beauty and intellect, and was a prominent figure in the cultural and literary circles of St. Petersburg.
In the 20th century, Yanna Camel (1909-1991) was a Greek actress and singer who appeared in numerous films and stage productions, and was considered a cultural icon in her home country.
People
Yanna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yanna 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
Yanna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yanna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 578 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yanna 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 593,001 US residents.
Is Yanna a common name?
We classify Yanna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 591 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yanna most popular?
The single biggest year for Yanna was 2009, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yanna is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Yanna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yanna 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.