Yennhi
An Asian feminine name with disputed meaning, possibly "grace and mercy".
Name Census estimates that about 15 living Americans carry the first name Yennhi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yennhi today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yennhi births was 1997 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yennhi. 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 Yennhi. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
15
~ 1 in 22,850,289 Americans
Peak year
1997
5 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2008 SSA rank
#20,385
Tracked since 1997
Popularity
Yennhi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yennhi from the 1990s through to the 2000s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 10 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
Yennhi 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 Yennhi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Yennhi
The name Yennhi originates from the Austro-Asiatic language family, specifically the Khmer language spoken in Cambodia. It likely emerged around the 6th century AD during the Khmer Empire's reign over much of mainland Southeast Asia.
Yennhi is derived from the Khmer words "yen" meaning moon and "nhi" meaning small or little. The name therefore translates to "little moon" or "moonlet", likely referring to a small celestial body orbiting a larger moon or planet.
The earliest known reference to the name Yennhi appears in a 9th century stone inscription found at the Bakong temple in Roluos, an ancient capital of the Khmer Empire. The inscription mentions a Queen Yennhi who ruled briefly in the late 800s.
Another notable Yennhi was a 12th century Khmer princess and daughter of King Dharanindravarman II. She later became a Buddhist nun and sponsored the construction of several temples and monasteries in what is now northwestern Cambodia.
In the 16th century, a Yennhi was recorded as the chief minister and trusted advisor to King Barom Reachea II, playing a key role in the kingdom's administration during a turbulent period of civil war and external invasions.
A Siamese military commander named Yennhi led forces against invading Burmese armies in the late 18th century, successfully defending the western territories of the Siamese kingdom for several years before being killed in battle.
More recently, Yennhi Em (1913-1993) was a celebrated Khmer dancer who helped revive and preserve traditional Cambodian court dance and theater in the decades following the country's independence from French colonial rule.
People
Yennhi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yennhi 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
Yennhi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yennhi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yennhi 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 22,850,289 US residents.
Is Yennhi a common name?
We classify Yennhi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 35.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yennhi most popular?
The single biggest year for Yennhi was 1997, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yennhi is about 22 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 Yennhi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yennhi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yennhi 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 Yennhi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yennhi 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 Yennhi 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 people have the name Yennhi?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Yennhi, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.