Yusef
An Arabic name meaning "he will increase" or "he will add".
Name Census estimates that about 2,943 living Americans carry the first name Yusef. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Yusef today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yusef births was 2024 (104 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yusef. 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 Yusef with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.9K
~ 1 in 116,464 Americans
Peak year
2024
104 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,635
Tracked since 1962
Census
Yusef in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,482 people with the first name Yusef, which placed it at #6,461 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
#6,461
National first-name rank
People counted
2.5K
2,482 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
41.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yusef
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yusef is Black at 41.9%. The next largest groups are White (35.6%) and Hispanic (10.0%). 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 Yusef 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 Yusef at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American41.9% · 1,041
- White35.6% · 883
- Hispanic or Latino10.0% · 247
- Two or more races7.4% · 183
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.9% · 121
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 7
Popularity
Yusef: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yusef 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 654 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Yusef remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yusef 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 Yusef during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yusefs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. New York, California, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Yusef, while Maryland, Connecticut, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 104 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Yusef
The name Yusef originates from the Arabic language and has been in use since ancient times. It is a variant of the name Yusuf, which is the Arabic form of the biblical name Joseph. The name Yusef and its variants can be traced back to the Hebrew name Yosef, which means "he will add" or "God will increase."
The name Yusef is deeply rooted in the Islamic tradition and is mentioned in the Quran as the name of the prophet Yusuf, who is revered as a role model for his righteousness, steadfastness, and wisdom. The story of Yusuf and his dream interpretations is narrated in detail in the Quran.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Yusef can be found in the biblical book of Genesis, where it is mentioned as the name of Joseph, the son of Jacob and Rachel. Joseph played a significant role in the biblical narrative and is considered one of the most important figures in the Hebrew Bible.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Yusef. One of the most prominent is Yusef ibn Ishaq al-Kindi (801-873 CE), an Arab philosopher, mathematician, and scientist who is often referred to as the "father of Arab philosophy." Another notable figure is Yusef ibn Abdur Rahman (1839-1917), an Afro-Arab Muslim leader who played a crucial role in the early Islamic community in the United States.
In the literary world, Yusef Idris (1927-1991) was an Egyptian writer and playwright renowned for his short stories and novels that explored social and political issues in Egypt. Yusef Lateef (1920-2013) was an American jazz musician and composer who was influential in the development of modal jazz.
Yusef Komunyakaa (born 1947) is an American poet and professor who received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1994 for his collection "Neon Vernacular." His works often explore themes of identity, race, and the African American experience.
The name Yusef has had a rich and enduring history, spanning across various cultures and religions. It continues to be a popular name in many parts of the world, particularly in the Arab and Muslim communities, where it carries significant cultural and religious significance.
People
Yusef + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yusef 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
Yusef: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yusef?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,943 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yusef 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 116,464 US residents.
Is Yusef a common name?
We classify Yusef as "Rare". It ranks above 95.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,032 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yusef most popular?
The single biggest year for Yusef was 2024, when 104 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yusef is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yusef in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,482 people with the name Yusef, or 0.82 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,461 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 Yusef 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 Yusef?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Yusef appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,485 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Yusef?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yusef is Black at 41.9%. The next largest groups are White (35.6%) and Hispanic (10.0%). 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 Yusef most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Yusef in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.9% (1,041 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 Yusef in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yusef a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yusef 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 Yusef still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yusef 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 Yusef 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 common is the name Yusef?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.