Yittel
A Yiddish feminine name meaning "modest" or "pious".
Name Census estimates that about 121 living Americans carry the first name Yittel. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yittel today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yittel births was 2017 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yittel. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Yittel with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
121
~ 1 in 2,832,680 Americans
Peak year
2017
13 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,210
Tracked since 1976
Popularity
Yittel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yittel from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 67 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Yittel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yittel 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 Yittel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yittels live
Origin
Meaning and history of Yittel
The name Yittel is a Yiddish variant of the Hebrew name Yitzhak or Isaac. It has its origins in ancient Hebrew and Aramaic languages, with the root meaning "he will laugh" or "he laughs." The name is derived from the Biblical story of Abraham and Sarah, who were promised a son in their old age, leading Sarah to laugh in disbelief.
In the Book of Genesis, God renames Abram as Abraham and his wife Sarai as Sarah, promising them a son named Isaac. Isaac's birth is seen as a divine miracle, and his name reflects the laughter and joy associated with his arrival. The name Yittel is a diminutive form of Yitzhak, often used as a term of endearment.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Yittel can be found in the Babylonian Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism compiled around the 5th century CE. The Talmud mentions a Rabbi Yittel, a scholar and sage who lived during the Amoraic period (200-500 CE).
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Yittel. One of the most prominent was Yittel Feibush Epstein (1829-1908), a Polish-born Hasidic rabbi and leader of the Nadvorna Hasidic dynasty in Galicia. He was known for his piety, scholarship, and leadership within the Hasidic community.
Another notable figure was Yittel Haller Berne (1924-2019), a Holocaust survivor and author from Poland. She wrote memoirs documenting her experiences during the Holocaust, including "A Life in Pieces" and "The Light that Remains." Her works shed light on the resilience and courage of Holocaust survivors.
In the 19th century, Yittel Feigen (1835-1917) was a renowned Yiddish writer and playwright from Ukraine. She is considered one of the pioneers of modern Yiddish literature and helped to promote the use of Yiddish as a literary language.
The name Yittel also appears in various Yiddish folktales and literary works. For example, in the classic Yiddish play "The Dybbuk" by S. Ansky, one of the characters is named Yittel, the betrothed of the protagonist.
Another notable individual was Yittel Skorka (1938-2022), a Polish-born Israeli writer and Holocaust survivor. She wrote about her experiences during the Holocaust and her journey to Israel after World War II, contributing to the preservation of Holocaust memory and education.
People
Yittel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yittel 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
Yittel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yittel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 121 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yittel 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 2,832,680 US residents.
Is Yittel a common name?
We classify Yittel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 123 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yittel most popular?
The single biggest year for Yittel was 2017, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yittel is about 13 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 Yittel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yittel a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yittel 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 Yittel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yittel 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 Yittel 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 Yittel?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Yittel, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.