Yessel
A masculine given name of uncertain origin and meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 7 living Americans carry the first name Yessel. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yessel today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yessel births was 2000 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yessel. 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 Yessel. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
7
~ 1 in 48,964,905 Americans
Peak year
2000
7 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2000 SSA rank
#13,132
Tracked since 2000
Popularity
Yessel: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Yessel 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 Yessel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 0 | 7 | 7 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Yessel
The given name Yessel is believed to have originated from the Old Norse language, which was spoken by the Germanic people of Scandinavia and their descendants during the Viking Age, spanning from the 8th to the 11th centuries. It is thought to be derived from the Old Norse word "gysill," which means "hostage" or "pledge."
In the Viking era, the practice of exchanging hostages or pledges was common among the Norse people as a means of securing alliances, peace treaties, and trade agreements. The name Yessel may have been given to children who were born or designated as pledges or hostages in such arrangements, symbolizing the importance of upholding commitments and fostering trust between different groups or clans.
The earliest known historical reference to the name Yessel can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, which are a collection of narratives written in the 13th and 14th centuries, depicting the lives and adventures of the Norse people during the Viking Age. One notable individual bearing the name Yessel was a Norwegian chieftain mentioned in the Saga of Grettir the Strong, which dates back to the late 12th century.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have carried the name Yessel, although its usage has been relatively rare compared to more common Norse names. One of the earliest recorded examples is Yessel Bjornsson (1210-1278), a prominent Icelandic lawspeaker and chieftain who played a significant role in the Sturlung Age, a period of civil strife and power struggles in Iceland.
Another notable figure was Yessel Eriksson (1450-1518), a Swedish clergyman and diplomat who served as the Bishop of Linköping and played a crucial role in the negotiations between Sweden and Denmark during the Kalmar Union, a series of personal unions that united the three Scandinavian kingdoms from 1397 to 1523.
In the 17th century, Yessel Ingemarsson (1617-1684) was a Swedish military officer and nobleman who served as the Governor of Västmanland County and participated in several military campaigns during the Thirty Years' War and the Northern Wars.
Moving into the 19th century, Yessel Hjalmarsson (1825-1905) was a Norwegian painter and illustrator known for his landscapes and depictions of Norwegian folklore and rural life.
Lastly, Yessel Gunnarsson (1892-1975) was an Icelandic politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iceland from 1949 to 1953 and played a significant role in Iceland's membership in NATO and the establishment of its diplomatic relations with various countries.
People
Yessel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yessel 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
Yessel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yessel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yessel 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 48,964,905 US residents.
Is Yessel a common name?
We classify Yessel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 23.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yessel most popular?
The single biggest year for Yessel was 2000, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yessel is about 25 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 Yessel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yessel a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yessel 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 Yessel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yessel 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 Yessel 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 common is the name Yessel?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Yessel at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.