Yanzel
A Hebrew name possibly meaning "God has favored" or "God has graced."
Name Census estimates that about 37 living Americans carry the first name Yanzel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Yanzel today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yanzel births was 2010 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yanzel. 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 Yanzel. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
37
~ 1 in 9,263,631 Americans
Peak year
2010
7 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2013 SSA rank
#12,067
Tracked since 2008
Popularity
Yanzel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yanzel from the 2000s through to the 2010s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 26 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
Yanzel 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 Yanzel 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 Yanzel
The name Yanzel is believed to have originated from the Yiddish language, which is a dialect of German that was spoken by Ashkenazi Jewish communities in Central and Eastern Europe. The name is thought to be derived from the Hebrew name Yochanan or Yehohanan, meaning "Yahweh is gracious."
In the Middle Ages, the name Yanzel was commonly found among Ashkenazi Jewish communities in areas such as Poland, Ukraine, and parts of Germany. It was often used as a diminutive or affectionate form of the more formal Hebrew names Yochanan or Yehohanan.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Yanzel can be found in a 14th-century document from the city of Krakow, Poland, where a Jewish merchant named Yanzel ben Shmuel is referenced. This suggests that the name was in use among Ashkenazi Jews in Eastern Europe as early as the 14th century.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Yanzel. In the 16th century, Yanzel Ashkenazi (c. 1550-1625) was a renowned Talmudic scholar and rabbi who lived in Poland. He wrote several influential works on Jewish law and philosophy.
Another famous bearer of the name was Yanzel Radomsker (1805-1866), a prominent Hasidic rabbi and leader of the Radomsk dynasty in Poland. He was known for his teachings on Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism.
In the 19th century, Yanzel Edelstein (1823-1892) was a respected Jewish scholar and author from Russia. He wrote several books on Jewish history and philosophy, including a comprehensive work on the life of the renowned rabbi and philosopher, Maimonides.
Yanzel Rothschild (1871-1938) was a prominent banker and philanthropist from the famous Rothschild family. He was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and played a significant role in the family's banking empire during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Lastly, Yanzel Hersh (1910-1988) was a distinguished Yiddish writer and poet from Poland. He is considered one of the most important figures in modern Yiddish literature, and his works often explored themes of Jewish identity, diaspora, and the Holocaust.
People
Yanzel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yanzel 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
Yanzel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yanzel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 37 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yanzel 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 9,263,631 US residents.
Is Yanzel a common name?
We classify Yanzel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 49.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 37 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yanzel most popular?
The single biggest year for Yanzel was 2010, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yanzel is about 15 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 Yanzel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yanzel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yanzel 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.
Is Yanzel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yanzel 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 Yanzel 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 people have the name Yanzel?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Yanzel, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.