Yohance
Of Bantu origin meaning "he has conquered" or "lion of the people".
Name Census estimates that about 391 living Americans carry the first name Yohance. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Yohance today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yohance births was 1973 (44 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yohance. 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
391
~ 1 in 876,610 Americans
Peak year
1973
44 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2023 SSA rank
#14,128
Tracked since 1973
Census
Yohance in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 380 people with the first name Yohance, which placed it at #25,078 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
#25,078
National first-name rank
People counted
380
380 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
84.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yohance
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yohance is Black at 84.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.7%) and Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Yohance 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 Yohance at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American84.7% · 322
- Hispanic or Latino8.7% · 33
- Two or more races2.9% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 8
- White1.3% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Yohance: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yohance from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 129 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yohance 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 Yohance during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yohances live
Origin
Meaning and history of Yohance
The name Yohance is of African origin, derived from the Yoruba language spoken in West Africa, primarily in present-day Nigeria. It is believed to have emerged in the 16th or 17th century during the height of the Yoruba kingdom.
The name Yohance is a combination of two Yoruba words: "Yo" meaning "to live" or "to exist," and "Ance" meaning "to crown" or "to honor." Thus, the name can be interpreted as "one who lives honorably" or "one who is crowned with honor and dignity."
Yohance does not appear to have any direct references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, as it is a more modern name derived from the Yoruba language. However, the concepts of honor, dignity, and respect for life are deeply rooted in many African cultures and traditions.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Yohance was Yohance Adekunle, a prominent Yoruba chief and leader in the late 18th century, known for his wisdom and commitment to justice. Another notable figure was Yohance Oluwole, a Yoruba philosopher and scholar who lived in the early 19th century and made significant contributions to the study of African philosophy.
In the 20th century, Yohance Bamigbetan was a renowned Nigerian artist and sculptor, recognized for his exceptional woodcarvings and mastery of traditional Yoruba art forms. He lived from 1925 to 2001.
Yohance Massaquoi, born in 1926, was a pioneering African-American librarian and archivist who played a crucial role in preserving and promoting African American history and culture through his work at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York.
Yohance Harper, born in 1969, is a contemporary American author and activist known for his work on social justice issues, particularly related to race, education, and youth empowerment. He has written several books and articles advocating for positive social change.
While the name Yohance is not widely popular globally, it continues to hold significance within African and African diasporic communities, representing the cultural values of honor, dignity, and respect for life.
People
Yohance + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yohance 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
Yohance: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yohance?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 391 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yohance 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 876,610 US residents.
Is Yohance a common name?
We classify Yohance as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 407 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yohance most popular?
The single biggest year for Yohance was 1973, when 44 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yohance is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yohance in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 380 people with the name Yohance, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,078 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 Yohance 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 Yohance?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yohance leans strongly male. 371 people counted with this name were male (97.9%), compared with 8 female bearers (2.1%). 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 Yohance?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yohance is Black at 84.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.7%) and Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Yohance most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Yohance in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.7% (322 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 Yohance in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yohance a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yohance in the SSA data are male. 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 Yohance still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yohance 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 Yohance 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 called Yohance?
Find out how many Americans are named Yohance on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.