Yasheka
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from Sanskrit meaning "glory" or "fame".
Name Census estimates that about 81 living Americans carry the first name Yasheka. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yasheka today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yasheka births was 1979 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yasheka. 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 Yasheka. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
81
~ 1 in 4,231,535 Americans
Peak year
1979
11 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
1988 SSA rank
#11,778
Tracked since 1974
Census
Yasheka in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 111 people with the first name Yasheka, which placed it at #51,800 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
#51,800
National first-name rank
People counted
111
111 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
97.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yasheka
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yasheka is Black at 97.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.8%) and White (0.9%). 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 Yasheka 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 Yasheka at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American97.3% · 108
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 2
- White0.9% · 1
Popularity
Yasheka: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yasheka from the 1970s through to the 1980s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 52 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
Yasheka 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 Yasheka during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yashekas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Yasheka
The name Yasheka has its roots in ancient Sanskrit, one of the oldest Indo-Aryan languages spoken in the Indian subcontinent. It is a combination of the Sanskrit words "yash," meaning glory or fame, and "ka," a diminutive suffix used to create affectionate or diminutive forms of names.
The earliest known reference to the name Yasheka can be found in the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, dating back to around the 8th century BCE. In this epic, Yasheka is mentioned as the name of a minor character, a warrior who fought alongside the Pandava brothers in the great battle of Kurukshetra.
Throughout the centuries, the name Yasheka has been borne by several notable individuals, including Yasheka Devi (1552-1624), a renowned poetess and composer from the Rajput kingdom of Mewar in present-day Rajasthan, India. Her works, which predominantly focused on spiritual themes and devotional poetry, are considered literary masterpieces and continue to be widely studied and appreciated.
Another notable figure was Yasheka Singh (1712-1785), a Maratha military leader who played a crucial role in the expansion of the Maratha Empire under the leadership of Peshwa Baji Rao I. Singh's bravery and strategic acumen earned him a reputation as one of the most formidable warriors of his time.
In the 19th century, Yasheka Bai (1835-1891) was a celebrated classical dancer and courtesan from the princely state of Awadh in northern India. Her exceptional talent and grace made her a highly sought-after performer, and she is credited with preserving and promoting the traditional Kathak dance form.
The name Yasheka also finds mention in ancient Buddhist texts, where Yasheka Thera was a renowned monk and scholar who lived in the 3rd century BCE. His teachings and writings on Buddhist philosophy and practice were widely influential during his time and continue to be studied by scholars today.
While the name Yasheka has its origins in Sanskrit, it has transcended cultural and geographic boundaries, with variations of the name being used in various parts of the world. However, its roots can be traced back to the rich cultural heritage of the Indian subcontinent, where it has been borne by numerous notable figures throughout history.
People
Yasheka + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yasheka 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
Yasheka: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yasheka?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 81 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yasheka 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 4,231,535 US residents.
Is Yasheka a common name?
We classify Yasheka as "Very Rare". It ranks above 61.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 87 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yasheka most popular?
The single biggest year for Yasheka was 1979, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yasheka is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yasheka in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 111 people with the name Yasheka, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #51,800 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 Yasheka 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 Yasheka?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yasheka appears almost entirely female. Of the 114 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Yasheka?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yasheka is Black at 97.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.8%) and White (0.9%). 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 Yasheka most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Yasheka in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.3% (108 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 Yasheka in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yasheka a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yasheka 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 Yasheka still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yasheka 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 Yasheka 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 many people have Yasheka as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.