Yehia
An Arabic name meaning "life" or "he who lives".
Name Census estimates that about 149 living Americans carry the first name Yehia. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Yehia today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yehia births was 2023 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yehia. 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 Yehia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
149
~ 1 in 2,300,365 Americans
Peak year
2023
20 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,251
Tracked since 1999
Census
Yehia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 361 people with the first name Yehia, which placed it at #26,014 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
#26,014
National first-name rank
People counted
361
361 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
94.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yehia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yehia is White at 94.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.0%) and Black (1.4%). 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 Yehia 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 Yehia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.5% · 341
- Two or more races3.0% · 11
- Black or African American1.4% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino1.1% · 4
Popularity
Yehia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yehia from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 83 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Yehia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yehia 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 Yehia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yehias live
Origin
Meaning and history of Yehia
The name Yehia has its origins in the Arabic language, tracing back to the Middle Ages and the spread of Islam across North Africa and the Middle East. It is derived from the Arabic root word "hayya," which means "to live" or "to give life." The name Yehia is a variation of the more common Arabic name Yahya, which is the Arabic equivalent of the biblical name John.
Yehia has been a popular name among Muslims for centuries, as it is believed to be the name of a prophet mentioned in the Quran. In Islamic tradition, Yahya (or Yehia) is considered a messenger of God and is revered for his piety and devotion. The name appears numerous times in the Quran, particularly in Surah Maryam, where it is associated with the story of John the Baptist.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Yehia can be found in the writings of the renowned Arab philosopher and physician Avicenna, also known as Ibn Sina (980-1037 CE). Avicenna's full name was Abu Ali al-Husayn ibn Abd Allah ibn Sina, but he was also known by the name Yehia al-Qanuni, which means "Yehia the Lawgiver."
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Yehia. One of the most famous was Yehia ibn Masawayh (776-857 CE), a Nestorian Christian physician and philosopher who served as the personal physician to several Abbasid caliphs. His medical works were highly influential in the development of medieval Islamic medicine.
Another prominent figure was Yehia al-Antaki (1399-1460 CE), a Syrian-born scholar and linguist who made significant contributions to the study of Arabic grammar and lexicography. He is best known for his work "Al-Mufassal," which became a standard reference for Arabic grammar.
In the realm of literature, Yehia Haqqi (1905-1992) was an Egyptian novelist and playwright who is considered one of the pioneers of the modern Arabic novel. His most celebrated work is the novel "The Lamp of Umm Hashim," which explores themes of social injustice and the struggles of the working class in Egypt.
In the field of music, Yehia Khalil (1904-1971) was an acclaimed Egyptian composer and singer who played a significant role in the development of modern Arabic music. He composed numerous popular songs and film scores, and his works continue to be celebrated in the Arab world.
Finally, Yehia El-Masry (1935-2009) was an Egyptian actor and comedian who achieved widespread popularity for his roles in numerous Egyptian films and television series. He was known for his ability to portray a diverse range of characters and for his comedic timing, earning him the moniker "The Artist of the People."
People
Yehia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yehia 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
Yehia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yehia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 149 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yehia 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 2,300,365 US residents.
Is Yehia a common name?
We classify Yehia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 150 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yehia most popular?
The single biggest year for Yehia was 2023, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yehia is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yehia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 361 people with the name Yehia, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,014 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 Yehia 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 Yehia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yehia appears almost entirely male. Of the 362 people counted with this name, 99.4% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Yehia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yehia is White at 94.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.0%) and Black (1.4%). 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 Yehia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Yehia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.5% (341 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 Yehia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yehia a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yehia 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 Yehia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yehia 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 Yehia 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 share the name Yehia?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.