Yoshimi
A Japanese feminine name meaning "good beauty" or "beautiful regent".
Name Census estimates that about 9 living Americans carry the first name Yoshimi. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 68.4% of registrations being male. The average person named Yoshimi today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yoshimi births was 1923 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yoshimi. 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 Yoshimi. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
9
~ 1 in 38,083,815 Americans
Peak year
1923
12 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
1929 SSA rank
#4,541
Tracked since 1915
Census
Yoshimi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 480 people with the first name Yoshimi, which placed it at #21,231 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
#21,231
National first-name rank
People counted
480
480 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
90.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yoshimi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yoshimi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.2%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Yoshimi 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 Yoshimi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander90.4% · 434
- Hispanic or Latino5.2% · 25
- Two or more races3.5% · 17
- White0.8% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Yoshimi
Yoshimi is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 95 total registrations, 65 (68.4%) were male and 30 (31.6%) were female.
Yoshimi as a male name
- Ranked #4,541 in 1929
- 5 male births in 1929
- Peak: 1917 (9 births)
Yoshimi as a female name
- Ranked #10,834 in 1989
- 7 female births in 1989
- Peak: 1923 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yoshimi leans strongly female. 432 people counted with this name were female (90.6%), compared with 45 male bearers (9.4%).
Popularity
Yoshimi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yoshimi from the 1910s through to the 1980s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 60 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yoshimi 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 Yoshimi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yoshimis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Yoshimi
Yoshimi is a Japanese feminine given name with a rich history and cultural significance. Its origins can be traced back to the ancient Japanese language, derived from the combination of two words: "yo," meaning "good," and "shimi," which translates to "beautiful" or "elegant."
The earliest known reference to the name Yoshimi can be found in the Kojiki, one of the oldest extant chronicles in Japanese history, dating back to the early 8th century. In this ancient text, Yoshimi is mentioned as the name of a princess who lived during the reign of Emperor Ojin.
Throughout the centuries, Yoshimi has been a popular name among the Japanese aristocracy and nobility. One of the most notable historical figures bearing this name was Yoshimi Masayasu, a 16th-century samurai and daimyo (feudal lord) who played a significant role in the Sengoku period (1467-1615).
During the Edo period (1603-1868), Yoshimi Michi was a renowned poetess and calligrapher who gained widespread recognition for her literary works and artistic talents. Her contributions to Japanese literature and art are widely celebrated to this day.
In more recent history, Yoshimi Isoya (1904-1977) was a pioneering Japanese feminist and activist who fought tirelessly for women's rights and gender equality. Her efforts paved the way for significant advancements in the social and legal status of women in Japan.
Another notable individual with the name Yoshimi was Yoshimi Nakamura (1926-2008), a Japanese-American sculptor and ceramist whose works were heavily influenced by her cultural heritage and experiences during World War II. Her sculptures and installations are featured in numerous museums and galleries worldwide.
While the name Yoshimi has its roots in Japanese culture, it has also gained popularity in other parts of the world, particularly among those with an appreciation for its artistic and cultural connotations. However, its true essence lies in its connection to Japanese history, symbolizing elegance, beauty, and the enduring spirit of a nation.
People
Yoshimi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yoshimi 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
Yoshimi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yoshimi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yoshimi 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 38,083,815 US residents.
Is Yoshimi a common name?
We classify Yoshimi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 25.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 95 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yoshimi most popular?
The single biggest year for Yoshimi was 1923, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yoshimi is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yoshimi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 480 people with the name Yoshimi, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,231 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 Yoshimi 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 Yoshimi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yoshimi leans strongly female. 432 people counted with this name were female (90.6%), compared with 45 male bearers (9.4%). 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 Yoshimi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yoshimi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.2%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Yoshimi most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Yoshimi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.4% (434 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 Yoshimi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yoshimi a male name?
Yes, 68.4% of people registered as Yoshimi 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 Yoshimi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yoshimi 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 Yoshimi 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 Yoshimi?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.