Yaw
An African name meaning "born on Thursday" or "greatness."
Name Census estimates that about 390 living Americans carry the first name Yaw. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Yaw today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yaw births was 1997 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yaw. 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
390
~ 1 in 878,857 Americans
Peak year
1997
18 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,700
Tracked since 1973
Popularity
Yaw: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yaw 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 114 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Yaw remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yaw 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 Yaw during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yaws live
Origin
Meaning and history of Yaw
The name Yaw has its origins in the Akan language spoken by various ethnic groups in Ghana and Ivory Coast. It is believed to have been derived from the word "yaw" meaning "born on Thursday". This suggests that the name likely originated among the Akan people of West Africa during a time when naming conventions were tied to the day of the week a child was born.
Historically, the name Yaw was most commonly used by the Akan ethnic groups such as the Ashanti, Fante, Akyem, and Akuapem. It gained popularity as a given name among these groups several centuries ago, with early records indicating its usage as far back as the 16th century.
One of the earliest known references to the name Yaw can be found in the 17th century book "A New and Accurate Description of the Coast of Guinea" by Dutch author Willem Bosman. In this work, Bosman mentions a prominent Akan chief named Yaw Bunku who ruled over the town of Ahanta in present-day Ghana.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Yaw. One of the most famous was Yaw Asantewa (1840-1924), a Ghanaian queen and military leader who led the Ashanti resistance against British colonialism in the late 19th century.
Another prominent figure was Yaw Opare-Amuako (1917-2013), a Ghanaian politician and diplomat who served as the country's Minister of Finance and later as its Ambassador to the United Nations.
In the world of sports, Yaw Asamoah (born 1988) is a Ghanaian professional football player who has represented his country in several international tournaments, including the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups.
Yaw Ababio (1936-2017) was a Ghanaian lawyer and author who served as the Director of Public Prosecutions for Ghana and later as a Justice of the Supreme Court.
Lastly, Yaw Agyeman Badu (born 1985) is a Ghanaian musician and songwriter who has gained international recognition for his contributions to the Ghanaian hip-hop and highlife music scenes.
People
Yaw + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yaw 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
Yaw: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yaw?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 390 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yaw 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 878,857 US residents.
Is Yaw a common name?
We classify Yaw as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 398 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yaw most popular?
The single biggest year for Yaw was 1997, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yaw is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Yaw a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yaw 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.
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.