Yui
Japanese name meaning "superior blessing" or "excellent sustenance".
Name Census estimates that about 546 living Americans carry the first name Yui. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yui today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yui births was 2016 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yui. 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 Yui with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
546
~ 1 in 627,755 Americans
Peak year
2016
32 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,764
Tracked since 1989
Census
Yui in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 874 people with the first name Yui, which placed it at #13,712 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
#13,712
National first-name rank
People counted
874
874 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
86.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yui
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yui is Asian/Pacific Islander at 86.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.1%) and Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Yui 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 Yui at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander86.7% · 758
- Two or more races5.1% · 45
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 32
- White3.5% · 31
- Black or African American0.7% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Yui: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yui from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 214 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Yui remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yui 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 Yui during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yuis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Hawaii, New York recorded the most babies named Yui, while New York, Hawaii, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 35 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Yui
The name Yui is a Japanese name that has its origins in the Japanese language. It is believed to have derived from the word "yu," which means "superior," and the word "i," which means "clothing" or "dress." The name Yui can therefore be interpreted to mean "superior clothing" or "superior dress."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Yui dates back to the 8th century AD. It is found in the historical records of the Nara period (710-794 AD) in Japan, where it was used as a personal name for both men and women.
In Japanese mythology, Yui is also the name of a Shinto goddess associated with food, clothing, and shelter. She is often depicted as a young woman carrying a bundle of rice plants, representing the importance of agriculture in Japanese culture.
Notable historical figures with the name Yui include Yui no Shosokonoe (fl. 8th century AD), a Japanese noblewoman and poet who lived during the Nara period. Her poetry is included in the famous anthology of Japanese poetry, the Man'yōshū.
Another historical figure with the name Yui is Yui no Ozunu (fl. 10th century AD), a Japanese courtier and scholar who served during the Heian period (794-1185 AD). He was known for his expertise in Chinese literature and calligraphy.
In the 12th century, Yui no Sukemitsu (1114-1182) was a prominent Japanese Buddhist monk and poet who served as the head of the Tendai sect of Buddhism.
During the Edo period (1603-1868), Yui Shosetsu (1605-1651) was a Japanese scholar and writer known for his works on Confucian philosophy.
In more recent history, Yui Ritsuko (1921-2000) was a Japanese actress and singer who appeared in numerous films and television shows during the mid-20th century.
While these are just a few examples, the name Yui has been used throughout Japanese history by individuals from various walks of life, including nobility, scholars, artists, and religious figures.
People
Yui + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yui 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
Yui: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yui?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 546 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yui 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 627,755 US residents.
Is Yui a common name?
We classify Yui as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 554 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yui most popular?
The single biggest year for Yui was 2016, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yui is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yui in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 874 people with the name Yui, or 0.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,712 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 Yui 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 Yui?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Yui on both sides of the split. Of the 874 people counted with this name, 194 were male (22.2%) and 680 were female (77.8%). 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 Yui?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yui is Asian/Pacific Islander at 86.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.1%) and Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Yui most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Yui in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.7% (758 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 Yui in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yui a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yui 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 Yui still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yui 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 Yui 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 Americans are named Yui?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Yui at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.