Yemisi
A feminine Yoruba name meaning "the child is good".
Name Census estimates that about 9 living Americans carry the first name Yemisi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yemisi today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yemisi births was 1983 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yemisi. 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 Yemisi. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
9
~ 1 in 38,083,815 Americans
Peak year
1983
5 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
1984 SSA rank
#12,161
Tracked since 1983
Census
Yemisi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 273 people with the first name Yemisi, which placed it at #31,391 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
#31,391
National first-name rank
People counted
273
273 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
94.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yemisi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yemisi is Black at 94.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) and White (0.7%). 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 Yemisi 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 Yemisi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American94.5% · 258
- Two or more races3.7% · 10
- White0.7% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Yemisi: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Yemisi 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 Yemisi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0 | 10 | 10 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Yemisi
The name Yemisi originates from the Yoruba language and culture of West Africa, particularly in present-day Nigeria. It is a combination of two Yoruba words, "Iye" meaning "mother" and "Misi" meaning "born after the mother's return from a journey." The name was given to children born after their mothers had returned from a significant trip or journey.
Historically, the Yoruba people have a rich tradition of naming practices, with names often reflecting circumstances surrounding a child's birth, family values, or aspirations for the child's future. The name Yemisi has been in use among the Yoruba people for centuries, with its earliest recorded instances dating back to the 16th century.
One of the earliest notable individuals to bear the name Yemisi was a Yoruba princess and daughter of the Oyo Empire's ruler, Alafin Ajagbo, who reigned in the late 17th century. Princess Yemisi was known for her intelligence and diplomatic skills, playing a crucial role in maintaining peaceful relations between the Oyo Empire and neighboring kingdoms.
Another notable Yemisi was a Yoruba trader and entrepreneur who lived in the 18th century. She was renowned for her successful trading ventures and business acumen, which allowed her to amass significant wealth and influence in her community.
In the 19th century, Yemisi Shyllon, a prominent Yoruba educator and advocate for women's rights, made significant contributions to promoting education and empowerment for girls and women in her region. Her pioneering efforts paved the way for future generations of Yoruba women to have access to quality education.
One of the most renowned Yemisi figures in modern history was Yemisi Adedoyin Shoga, a Nigerian writer, journalist, and activist born in 1920. She was a prominent voice in the Nigerian literary scene and an advocate for social justice and women's rights. Her works, including poetry and short stories, explored themes of identity, culture, and the experiences of women in Nigerian society.
Another notable Yemisi was Yemisi Opeyemi Ransome-Kuti, born in 1935, a Nigerian activist and advocate for human rights. She played a pivotal role in the pro-democracy movements in Nigeria and was a vocal critic of military dictatorships, often facing persecution and imprisonment for her activism.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Yemisi, a name deeply rooted in the rich cultural traditions of the Yoruba people and associated with strength, resilience, and a commitment to values of community and social progress.
People
Yemisi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yemisi 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
Yemisi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yemisi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yemisi 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 38,083,815 US residents.
Is Yemisi a common name?
We classify Yemisi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 25.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yemisi most popular?
The single biggest year for Yemisi was 1983, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yemisi is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yemisi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 273 people with the name Yemisi, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,391 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 Yemisi 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 Yemisi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yemisi leans strongly female. 262 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 6 male bearers (2.2%). 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 Yemisi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yemisi is Black at 94.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) and White (0.7%). 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 Yemisi most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Yemisi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.5% (258 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 Yemisi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yemisi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yemisi 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 Yemisi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yemisi 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 Yemisi 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 are named Yemisi?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.