Yoona
A feminine name of Korean origin meaning "shining" or "prosperous".
Name Census estimates that about 127 living Americans carry the first name Yoona. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yoona today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yoona births was 2020 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yoona. 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
127
~ 1 in 2,698,853 Americans
Peak year
2020
14 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,035
Tracked since 2010
Census
Yoona in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 267 people with the first name Yoona, which placed it at #31,863 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
#31,863
National first-name rank
People counted
267
267 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
88.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yoona
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yoona is Asian/Pacific Islander at 88.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.5%) and White (1.9%). 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 Yoona 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 Yoona at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander88.4% · 236
- Two or more races7.5% · 20
- White1.9% · 5
- Black or African American1.5% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 2
Popularity
Yoona: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yoona from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 82 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Yoona remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yoona 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 Yoona 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 Yoona
The name Yoona has its origins in Korean culture and language, derived from the Korean word "yun" meaning "graceful" or "elegant". It is a feminine name that has been in use for centuries in Korea.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Yoona can be found in the Samguk Sagi, a historical record from the 12th century that documented the history of the Three Kingdoms period in ancient Korea. The name appears in reference to a princess from the Silla Kingdom, which ruled parts of the Korean peninsula from the 7th to 9th centuries.
Throughout Korean history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Yoona. Yoona of Goryeo (1365-1420) was a renowned poet and scholar during the Goryeo Dynasty. Her literary works, particularly her poetry, were highly acclaimed and influential in her time.
In the Joseon Dynasty, which ruled Korea from the 14th to the 19th century, there was a noted court lady named Yoona (1522-1594). She served as a trusted advisor and confidante to several queens and played an important role in court affairs and diplomacy.
Moving forward to the 20th century, Yoona Pak (1928-2008) was a celebrated Korean-American artist and painter. Her works, which often explored themes of identity and cultural heritage, were widely exhibited in galleries and museums across the United States.
Another notable figure is Yoona Im (1932-2014), a pioneering Korean-American journalist and author. She was one of the first Korean women to work as a correspondent for major American news outlets, covering events and issues related to Korea and the Korean diaspora.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have borne the name Yoona. While its origins can be traced back to ancient Korea, the name has endured and maintained its significance and cultural resonance over the centuries.
People
Yoona + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yoona 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
Yoona: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yoona?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 127 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yoona 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 2,698,853 US residents.
Is Yoona a common name?
We classify Yoona as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 128 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yoona most popular?
The single biggest year for Yoona was 2020, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yoona is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yoona in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 267 people with the name Yoona, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,863 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 Yoona 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 Yoona?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yoona appears almost entirely female. Of the 268 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Yoona?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yoona is Asian/Pacific Islander at 88.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.5%) and White (1.9%). 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 Yoona most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Yoona in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.4% (236 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 Yoona in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yoona a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yoona 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 Yoona still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yoona 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 Yoona 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 have Yoona as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.