Yayoi
A feminine Japanese name meaning "night bird; quail" or "born in March/April".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Yayoi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yayoi today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yayoi births was 1925 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yayoi. 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 Yayoi. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1925
6 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
1992 SSA rank
#15,582
Tracked since 1925
Census
Yayoi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 381 people with the first name Yayoi, which placed it at #25,037 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
#25,037
National first-name rank
People counted
381
381 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
93.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yayoi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yayoi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and Hispanic (1.0%). 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 Yayoi 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 Yayoi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander93.4% · 356
- Two or more races4.5% · 17
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 4
- Black or African American0.8% · 3
- White0.3% · 1
Popularity
Yayoi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yayoi from the 1920s through to the 1990s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 6 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
Yayoi 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 Yayoi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yayois live
Origin
Meaning and history of Yayoi
The name Yayoi originates from Japan and has its roots in the Yayoi period, a time of significant cultural development in Japanese history from around 300 BC to 300 AD. This era was marked by the introduction of rice cultivation, metalworking, and other advancements that shaped Japanese society.
The word "Yayoi" itself is believed to derive from an ancient Japanese word meaning "prosperous" or "bountiful," reflecting the agricultural and cultural prosperity of that era. It is a name that evokes a sense of growth, abundance, and the fertile beginnings of Japanese civilization.
While the Yayoi period is the primary historical reference for the name, it has also been mentioned in various ancient Japanese texts and records, further cementing its connection to the country's rich cultural heritage.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Yayoi can be found in the "Kojiki," a historical chronicle dating back to 712 AD, which chronicles the mythological origins of Japan and its imperial dynasty.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have carried the name Yayoi, including:
1. Yayoi Kusama (born 1929), a renowned Japanese contemporary artist known for her immersive installations, paintings, and sculptural works featuring polka dots and other repetitive patterns.
2. Yayoi Aoki (born 1975), a Japanese actress and singer who has appeared in numerous films, television shows, and stage productions.
3. Yayoi Hirano (1923-2014), a Japanese novelist and poet who wrote extensively about the experiences of women during and after World War II.
4. Yayoi Daidohji (born 1969), a Japanese voice actress known for her work in anime series such as "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and "Sailor Moon."
5. Yayoi Matsunaga (1892-1967), a Japanese feminist and educator who advocated for women's rights and played a significant role in the development of girls' education in Japan.
These individuals, among others, have carried the name Yayoi throughout different eras and fields, contributing to its enduring legacy and cultural significance in Japan.
People
Yayoi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yayoi 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
Yayoi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yayoi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yayoi 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Yayoi a common name?
We classify Yayoi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yayoi most popular?
The single biggest year for Yayoi was 1925, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yayoi is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yayoi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 381 people with the name Yayoi, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,037 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 Yayoi 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 Yayoi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yayoi appears almost entirely female. Of the 378 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 Yayoi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yayoi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and Hispanic (1.0%). 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 Yayoi most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Yayoi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.4% (356 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 Yayoi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yayoi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yayoi 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 Yayoi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yayoi 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 Yayoi 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 Americans are named Yayoi?
See how many people have the name Yayoi on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.