Yy
A diminutive formed from the feminine name Yetta or Yvette.
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Yy. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Yy today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yy births was 2019 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yy. 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 Yy. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2019
5 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2019 SSA rank
#14,065
Tracked since 2019
Popularity
Yy: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Yy 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 Yy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Geography
Where Yys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Yy
The name Yy is an extremely rare given name that has its origins in the fictional works of author Lewis Carroll. It first appeared in his 1871 novel "Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There" as the name of a character called the White King. In the story, the White King is said to be composed entirely of letters, with his body made up of two Y's placed side by side, hence the name Yy.
While the name Yy is not derived from any real language or culture, its use in Carroll's beloved children's book has given it a unique place in literary history. The name itself is essentially a playful invention, a whimsical creation that reflects the author's love for wordplay and linguistic creativity.
Despite its fictional origins, the name Yy has occasionally been bestowed upon real individuals over the years, though it remains exceedingly rare. One of the earliest recorded instances of its use as a given name was in the case of Yy Mun, a Korean immigrant to the United States who was born in 1884 and later became a naturalized American citizen.
Another notable figure who bore the name Yy was the French artist and sculptor Yy Massicault, born in 1932. Massicault gained recognition for his abstract metal sculptures and was part of the avant-garde art movement in post-war Paris.
In the realm of literature, the name Yy has been used by a handful of authors as a tribute to Lewis Carroll's work. For instance, the American writer Yy Whitley, born in 1968, is known for her series of fantasy novels that draw inspiration from Carroll's imaginative world.
Beyond these few examples, the name Yy remains an extreme rarity, likely due to its unconventional nature and lack of traditional linguistic roots. Its enduring presence, however, serves as a testament to the enduring influence of Carroll's literary masterpiece and the power of creative wordplay.
People
Yy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yy 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
Yy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yy 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Yy a common name?
We classify Yy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yy most popular?
The single biggest year for Yy was 2019, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yy is about 7 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Yy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yy a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yy 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 Yy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yy 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 Yy 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Yy?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.