How Many People Are Named Yael?
An estimated 9,088 people in the United States have the first name Yael. It is used for both genders, with 52.8% male. The average bearer is 17 years old, and Yael peaked in popularity in 2023 with 470 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Yael as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Yael paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- Yael has shifted from predominantly female to increasingly male in recent decades.
- Yael is a genuinely unisex name, given to both boys and girls in roughly equal numbers.
- Yael is a modern name. With an average bearer age of just 17, it has gained most of its popularity in recent years.
Estimated Living Americans
9,088
About 1 in 37,715 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Male
52.8% confidence
Average Age
17
years old
Peak Year
2023
470 births
Total Registered
9,270
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Yael
Yael is a genuinely unisex name, used for both males (52.8%) and females (47.2%). Out of 9,270 total births registered, 4,899 were male and 4,371 were female.
Yael as a male name
Ranked #790 in 2024
317 male births in 2024
Peak: 2023 (328 births)
Yael as a female name
Ranked #1,600 in 2024
131 female births in 2024
Peak: 2022 (166 births)
Yael: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Yael span from the 1950s to the 2020s, covering 8 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2010s, when 3,234 babies were registered. While Yael is less common than at its peak in the 2010s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Yael by Decade
How has Yael tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Yael by State
Birth registrations for Yael span all 29 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, New York, Texas. The lowest are in Utah, Ohio, Minnesota. On average, about 229 Yaels were registered per state.
Yael + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Yael as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Yael
Other first names starting with Y with a similar number of bearers.
Yael: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yael?
We estimate approximately 9,088 people named Yael are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 37,715 Americans share this first name.
Is Yael a common name?
Yael is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 97.6% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 9,270 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Yael most popular?
Yael reached peak popularity in 2023, when 470 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Yael is approximately 17 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Yael a male name?
Yael is predominantly male. 52.8% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Yael Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Yael Smith, Yael Johnson, Yael Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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