Yari
Japanese given name meaning "spear" or "anchor".
Name Census estimates that about 593 living Americans carry the first name Yari. It is a predominantly female name (90.5% of registrations). The average person named Yari today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yari births was 2024 (52 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yari. 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
593
~ 1 in 578,001 Americans
Peak year
2024
52 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,628
Tracked since 1980
Census
Yari in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 969 people with the first name Yari, which placed it at #12,733 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#12,733
National first-name rank
People counted
969
969 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
72.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yari
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yari is Hispanic at 72.1%. The next largest groups are Black (16.6%) and White (7.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Yari described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Yari at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino72.1% · 699
- Black or African American16.6% · 161
- White7.8% · 76
- Two or more races1.9% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Yari
Yari leans heavily female at 90.5% of total registrations, but 57 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Yari as a male name
- Ranked #8,921 in 2024
- 9 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (9 births)
Yari as a female name
- Ranked #3,628 in 2024
- 43 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (43 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yari leans strongly female. 829 people counted with this name were female (84.7%), compared with 150 male bearers (15.3%).
Popularity
Yari: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yari from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 205 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
Yari 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 Yari during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yaris live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Georgia, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Yari, while Maryland, Florida, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Yari
The name Yari is believed to have its origins in the Japanese language and culture. It is thought to be derived from the Japanese word "yari," which means "spear" or "javelin." The name likely originated during the feudal period in Japan, when samurai warriors and their weapons played a significant role in society.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Yari can be found in the Japanese historical text "Azuma Kagami" (The Mirror of the East), which dates back to the 13th century. This chronicle of the Kamakura period mentions a warrior named Yari no Munetaka, who served under the famous shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo.
Yari has also been associated with Japanese mythology and folklore. In the Shinto religion, there is a deity known as Yari-no-Kaminari-no-Kami, which translates to "the God of the Spear and Thunder." This deity is believed to be a protector of warriors and is often depicted holding a spear.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Yari. One of the most famous was Yari Kawashima (1830-1885), a Japanese samurai and military strategist who played a crucial role in the Boshin War, which led to the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate and the restoration of imperial rule in Japan.
Another prominent figure was Yari Dokugan (1642-1714), a renowned Japanese Zen Buddhist monk and calligrapher. His calligraphic works are highly revered and have been preserved in various temples and museums across Japan.
In the field of literature, Yari Kikuchi (1904-1980) was a celebrated Japanese novelist and poet. His works often explored themes of modernization and cultural identity in post-war Japan, earning him numerous literary awards and recognition.
Yari Suzuki (1922-2013) was a renowned Japanese scientist and engineer who made significant contributions to the development of liquid crystal display (LCD) technology. His groundbreaking research paved the way for the widespread use of LCD screens in various electronic devices.
Lastly, Yari Ogawa (1936-2008) was a Japanese actor and voice actor who had a prolific career spanning over five decades. He is particularly remembered for his roles in popular anime series and films, including his portrayal of Goku in the iconic "Dragon Ball" franchise.
People
Yari + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yari 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
Yari: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yari?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 593 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yari 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 578,001 US residents.
Is Yari a common name?
We classify Yari as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 599 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yari most popular?
The single biggest year for Yari was 2024, when 52 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yari is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yari in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 969 people with the name Yari, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,733 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Yari in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Yari?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yari leans strongly female. 829 people counted with this name were female (84.7%), compared with 150 male bearers (15.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Yari?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yari is Hispanic at 72.1%. The next largest groups are Black (16.6%) and White (7.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Yari most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Yari in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.1% (699 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Yari in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yari a female name?
Yes, 90.5% of people registered as Yari 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 Yari still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yari 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 Yari 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.
How common is the name Yari?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Yari at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.