Youssouf
A masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "Joseph" or "he will increase".
Name Census estimates that about 251 living Americans carry the first name Youssouf. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Youssouf today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Youssouf births was 2018 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Youssouf. 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 Youssouf with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
251
~ 1 in 1,365,555 Americans
Peak year
2018
18 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,829
Tracked since 1996
Census
Youssouf in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 426 people with the first name Youssouf, which placed it at #23,110 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
#23,110
National first-name rank
People counted
426
426 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
90.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Youssouf
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Youssouf is Black at 90.4%. The next largest groups are White (6.1%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). 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 Youssouf 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 Youssouf at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American90.4% · 385
- White6.1% · 26
- Two or more races1.6% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Popularity
Youssouf: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Youssouf from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 108 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Youssouf remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Youssouf 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 Youssouf during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Youssoufs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Youssouf
The name Youssouf has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is a masculine given name derived from the Arabic root word "yūsuf," which means "he will add" or "increase." This name can be traced back to ancient times, as it is mentioned in the Quran and the Bible as the name of the prophet Joseph, one of the sons of Jacob.
The earliest recorded use of the name Youssouf dates back to the 7th century CE, during the early years of the Islamic era. It was a popular name among Arab populations and quickly spread to other regions as Islam expanded. Variations of the name, such as Yusef and Yusuf, are found in various cultures influenced by the Arabic language and Islamic traditions.
One of the most notable historical figures with the name Youssouf was Youssouf Salah Ed-Dine, also known as Saladin (1137-1193 CE). He was a renowned Kurdish Muslim sultan who led the Ayyubid dynasty and played a significant role in the Crusades, recapturing Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187 CE.
Another famous bearer of the name was Youssouf Rachi (1040-1105 CE), a renowned Jewish rabbi and scholar from Troyes, France, who authored influential commentaries on the Talmud and the Bible.
In the 12th century, Youssouf Ibn Tashfin (1061-1106 CE) was a Berber Almoravid ruler who played a crucial role in the spread of Islam in North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula.
During the 13th century, Youssouf Al-Sahili (1185-1240 CE) was a prominent Arab mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the development of trigonometry and the study of planetary movements.
In more recent history, Youssouf Mulumbu (born 1987) is a professional football player from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who has played for various clubs in Europe, including West Bromwich Albion and Celtic.
People
Youssouf + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Youssouf 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
Youssouf: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Youssouf?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 251 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Youssouf 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 1,365,555 US residents.
Is Youssouf a common name?
We classify Youssouf as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 253 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Youssouf most popular?
The single biggest year for Youssouf was 2018, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Youssouf is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Youssouf in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 426 people with the name Youssouf, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,110 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 Youssouf 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 Youssouf?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Youssouf appears almost entirely male. Of the 424 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Youssouf?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Youssouf is Black at 90.4%. The next largest groups are White (6.1%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). 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 Youssouf most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Youssouf in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.4% (385 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 Youssouf in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Youssouf a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Youssouf 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 Youssouf still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Youssouf 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 Youssouf 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 share the name Youssouf?
You can see how many Americans are named Youssouf on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.