Yeila
A feminine name of possible Arabic origin, meaning "lover of freedom".
Name Census estimates that about 73 living Americans carry the first name Yeila. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yeila today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yeila births was 2013 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yeila. 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 Yeila. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
73
~ 1 in 4,695,265 Americans
Peak year
2013
13 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2015 SSA rank
#14,429
Tracked since 2005
Popularity
Yeila: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yeila from the 2000s through to the 2010s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 55 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
Yeila 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 Yeila during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yeilas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Yeila
The name Yeila is believed to have originated in the ancient Sumerian culture, which flourished in the region of Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) around 3500 BCE. It is derived from the Sumerian word "yei," meaning "life," and the suffix "-la," indicating a feminine form.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Yeila can be found in the cuneiform tablets of the ancient Sumerian city of Uruk, dating back to around 2500 BCE. These tablets mention a woman named Yeila, who was a high priestess in the temple of the goddess Inanna.
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the earliest known works of literature from ancient Mesopotamia, a character named Yeila appears as a wise woman who advises the hero Gilgamesh on his quest for immortality. This epic is believed to have been composed around 2100 BCE.
During the Neo-Babylonian period (625-539 BCE), the name Yeila was associated with the goddess Ishtar, the Babylonian counterpart of the Sumerian Inanna. It was a popular name among women in the region during this time.
In the ancient Greek world, a woman named Yeila is mentioned in the writings of the philosopher Plato (428-348 BCE). She was a renowned mathematician and astronomer from the city of Miletus, known for her contributions to the understanding of celestial bodies and their movements.
Another notable figure in history with the name Yeila was a Byzantine princess who lived in the 11th century CE. She was the daughter of Emperor Basil II and played a significant role in the political intrigues of the Byzantine court during her lifetime.
In the 13th century CE, a Sufi mystic and poet named Yeila Rumi was born in present-day Afghanistan. Her poems and writings on spirituality and love gained widespread recognition and influenced the development of Persian literature.
During the Renaissance period, a Italian painter named Yeila Sirani (1638-1665) achieved recognition for her exceptional skills in portraiture and religious art. She was one of the few female artists of her time to gain widespread acclaim and establish a successful career.
In the 19th century, a Native American woman named Yeila Quoitze (1828-1905) from the Nez Perce tribe played a crucial role in preserving her people's language and cultural traditions. She worked closely with anthropologists and linguists to document the Nez Perce language and oral histories.
People
Yeila + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yeila 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
Yeila: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yeila?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 73 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yeila 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 4,695,265 US residents.
Is Yeila a common name?
We classify Yeila as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 74 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yeila most popular?
The single biggest year for Yeila was 2013, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yeila is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Yeila in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yeila a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yeila 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 Yeila still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yeila 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 Yeila 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Yeila?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.