Yumi
A feminine Japanese name meaning beautiful, gorgeous or a superior or excellent beauty.
Name Census estimates that about 937 living Americans carry the first name Yumi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Yumi today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yumi births was 2024 (53 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yumi. 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 Yumi with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
937
~ 1 in 365,800 Americans
Peak year
2024
53 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,071
Tracked since 1960
Census
Yumi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,372 people with the first name Yumi, which placed it at #6,691 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
#6,691
National first-name rank
People counted
2.4K
2,372 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
84.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yumi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yumi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 84.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.3%) and Hispanic (5.2%). 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 Yumi 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 Yumi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander84.6% · 2,006
- Two or more races7.3% · 174
- Hispanic or Latino5.2% · 123
- White1.8% · 42
- Black or African American0.9% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 6
Popularity
Yumi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yumi from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 273 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Yumi remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yumi 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 Yumi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yumis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Yumi, while Texas, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 87 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Yumi
The name Yumi is believed to have originated from Japan, where it is a feminine name with multiple meanings and origins. One possible derivation is from the Japanese word "yumi," which means "bow" or "archery bow," symbolizing strength and skill. Another potential origin is from the combination of the Japanese words "yu" (superiority or gentleness) and "mi" (beauty or fruit), suggesting a name with connotations of elegance and grace.
In Japanese culture, the name Yumi has been associated with various historical figures and literary works. One notable mention is in the Genji Monogatari, a classical Japanese novel written in the early 11th century, where a character named Yumi is described as a talented poet and calligrapher.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Yumi can be traced back to the Heian period (794-1185 CE) in Japan. During this time, aristocratic families often chose names with poetic or symbolic meanings, reflecting the cultural values of the era.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Yumi was Yumi no Tsubone (962-1014 CE), a Japanese lady-in-waiting and waka poet who served at the imperial court during the late Heian period. Her poetry was highly regarded and included in several prestigious anthologies.
In the Kamakura period (1185-1333 CE), Yumi no Naishi (dates unknown) was a renowned Buddhist nun and calligrapher who was admired for her artistic talents and spiritual devotion.
During the Edo period (1603-1868 CE), Yumi Kuwayama (1619-1696) was a respected female samurai and martial artist known for her expertise in naginata (a Japanese pole weapon) and her role in defending her domain.
In the modern era, notable individuals with the name Yumi include Yumi Matsutoya (born 1957), a popular Japanese singer and songwriter known for her contributions to the City Pop genre, and Yumi Zouma (formed 2014), an indie pop band from New Zealand named after the hurricane that struck the country in 2005.
These are just a few examples of the rich history and cultural significance associated with the name Yumi, which has been carried by influential figures across various disciplines throughout Japanese history and beyond.
People
Yumi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yumi 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
Yumi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yumi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 937 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yumi 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 365,800 US residents.
Is Yumi a common name?
We classify Yumi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 967 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yumi most popular?
The single biggest year for Yumi was 2024, when 53 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yumi is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yumi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,372 people with the name Yumi, or 0.79 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,691 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 Yumi 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 Yumi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yumi appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,374 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Yumi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yumi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 84.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.3%) and Hispanic (5.2%). 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 Yumi most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Yumi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.6% (2,006 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 Yumi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yumi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yumi 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 Yumi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yumi 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 Yumi 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 Yumi?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.