Yee
A Chinese surname or a masculine given name meaning "first" or "excellent".
Name Census estimates that about 407 living Americans carry the first name Yee. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 58.2% of registrations being male. The average person named Yee today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yee births was 1990 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yee. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Yee with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
407
~ 1 in 842,148 Americans
Peak year
1990
32 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2000 SSA rank
#7,392
Tracked since 1880
Census
Yee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,415 people with the first name Yee, which placed it at #6,596 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
#6,596
National first-name rank
People counted
2.4K
2,415 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
97.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yee is Asian/Pacific Islander at 97.8%. The next largest groups are White (1.0%) and Hispanic (0.6%). 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 Yee 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 Yee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander97.8% · 2,361
- White1.0% · 24
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 15
- Black or African American0.4% · 10
- Two or more races0.2% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Yee
Yee is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 483 total registrations, 281 (58.2%) were male and 202 (41.8%) were female.
Yee as a male name
- Ranked #7,392 in 2000
- 9 male births in 2000
- Peak: 1989 (18 births)
Yee as a female name
- Ranked #10,811 in 1997
- 8 female births in 1997
- Peak: 1990 (16 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Yee on both sides of the split. Of the 2,418 people counted with this name, 974 were male (40.3%) and 1,444 were female (59.7%).
Popularity
Yee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yee from the 1880s through to the 2000s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 206 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yee 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 Yee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Wisconsin, Minnesota recorded the most babies named Yee, while Minnesota, Wisconsin, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 48 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Yee
The given name Yee has its origins in Chinese culture, tracing back to ancient times. It is believed to be derived from the Chinese character "yi," which means "righteous" or "upright." This name was particularly popular in regions of China where Cantonese and other Yue Chinese dialects were spoken.
In ancient Chinese literature, the name Yee can be found in various philosophical and historical texts. For instance, there are references to figures with this name in the Analects of Confucius, a collection of sayings and ideas attributed to the renowned philosopher Confucius (551-479 BC).
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Yee was Yee Fung, a renowned scholar and calligrapher who lived during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). His calligraphic works are still celebrated and studied by artists and historians today.
During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD), a notable figure named Yee Xingao gained recognition for his contributions to mathematics and astronomy. He is credited with improving the Chinese calendar system and making significant advancements in the field of celestial mechanics.
In more recent history, Yee Pang Yau, a prominent Hong Kong entrepreneur and philanthropist (1917-2016), left a lasting impact on the business world and charitable initiatives in the region.
Another individual of note is Yee Chiang, a Chinese-American mathematician (1936-2022) who made groundbreaking contributions to the field of differential geometry and was recognized with various prestigious awards, including the prestigious Wolf Prize in Mathematics.
Yee Ling, a renowned Chinese actress and singer (1937-2018), was a celebrated cultural icon who starred in numerous films and television shows, captivating audiences with her talent and charisma throughout her illustrious career.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have carried the given name Yee, showcasing its rich cultural heritage and the diverse contributions of those who have borne this name across various fields.
People
Yee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yee 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
Yee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 407 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yee 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 842,148 US residents.
Is Yee a common name?
We classify Yee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 483 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yee most popular?
The single biggest year for Yee was 1990, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yee is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,415 people with the name Yee, or 0.80 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,596 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 Yee 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 Yee?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Yee on both sides of the split. Of the 2,418 people counted with this name, 974 were male (40.3%) and 1,444 were female (59.7%). 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 Yee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yee is Asian/Pacific Islander at 97.8%. The next largest groups are White (1.0%) and Hispanic (0.6%). 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 Yee most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Yee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.8% (2,361 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 Yee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yee a male name?
Yes, 58.2% of people registered as Yee 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 Yee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yee 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 Yee 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 Yee?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Yee at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.