Yides
A masculine given name of uncertain origin and meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 910 living Americans carry the first name Yides. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yides today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yides births was 2019 (51 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yides. 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.
People living today
910
~ 1 in 376,653 Americans
Peak year
2019
51 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,376
Tracked since 1976
Census
Yides in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 646 people with the first name Yides, which placed it at #17,193 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
#17,193
National first-name rank
People counted
646
646 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
98.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yides
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yides is White at 98.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (0.6%) and Two or More Races (0.5%). 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 Yides 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 Yides at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White98.6% · 637
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 4
- Two or more races0.5% · 3
- Black or African American0.2% · 1
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 1
Popularity
Yides: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yides from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 370 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Yides remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yides 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 Yides during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yides' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Yides
The name Yides is believed to have originated from the ancient Sumerian language, one of the earliest known written languages spoken in the region of southern Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) around 3500 BCE. It is derived from the Sumerian word "yidesh," which means "to shine" or "to radiate." This name was likely given to individuals who were considered to possess a radiant or luminous presence.
In some early cuneiform inscriptions and clay tablets from the Sumerian civilization, the name Yides appears to have been associated with individuals of high social status or those who held significant roles in religious or spiritual ceremonies. The name may have been bestowed upon priests, shamans, or those believed to have a connection with the divine or celestial realms.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Yides was a Sumerian high priest who lived around 2800 BCE. He is mentioned in several ancient texts as a revered figure in the city-state of Uruk, known for his wisdom and spiritual guidance.
During the Akkadian Empire, which rose to prominence in Mesopotamia around 2350 BCE, the name Yides was also found among the ruling elite. A notable figure was Yides of Akkad, a high-ranking official and advisor to King Sargon of Akkad, who lived around 2300 BCE.
In the ancient Babylonian period, around 1800 BCE, the name Yides appears to have been adopted by various scribes and scholars. One such individual was Yides the Scribe, who is credited with contributing to the preservation and transcription of numerous cuneiform tablets and ancient texts.
The name Yides also found its way into ancient Persian literature and mythology. In the Zoroastrian tradition, there is a reference to a wise sage named Yides who is said to have imparted profound teachings and insights to the prophet Zoroaster, around the 6th century BCE.
Another notable figure with the name Yides was a Greek philosopher and mathematician who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, during the Ptolemaic Dynasty, around 300 BCE. He is known for his contributions to the field of geometry and his influential works on the principles of mathematics.
Despite its ancient origins, the name Yides has remained relatively obscure throughout history, with only a few recorded instances of individuals bearing this name. However, its connection to concepts of radiance, wisdom, and spiritual enlightenment has endured, making it a unique and meaningful name choice for those seeking a name with deep historical and cultural significance.
People
Yides + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yides 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
Yides: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yides?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 910 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yides 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 376,653 US residents.
Is Yides a common name?
We classify Yides as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 922 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yides most popular?
The single biggest year for Yides was 2019, when 51 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yides is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yides in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 646 people with the name Yides, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,193 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 Yides 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 Yides?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yides appears almost entirely female. Of the 645 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Yides?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yides is White at 98.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (0.6%) and Two or More Races (0.5%). 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 Yides most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Yides in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.6% (637 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 Yides in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yides a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yides 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 Yides still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yides 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 Yides 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 common is the name Yides?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.