How Many People Are Named Yao?
An estimated 106 people in the United States have the first name Yao. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 21 years old, and Yao peaked in popularity in 1984 with 10 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Yao 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 Yao paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
106
About 1 in 3,233,531 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Very Rare
Predicted Gender
Male
100.0% confidence
Average Age
21
years old
Peak Year
1984
10 births
Total Registered
108
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Yao
Yao is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 108 total births registered, 100.0% were male.
Yao as a male name
Ranked #14,105 in 2023
5 male births in 2023
Peak: 1984 (10 births)
Yao: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Yao span from the 1980s to the 2020s, covering 5 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2000s, when 42 babies were registered. Yao has declined significantly from its peak in the 2000s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Yao by Decade
How has Yao 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.
Yao by State
Yao + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Yao as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Yao
Other first names starting with Y with a similar number of bearers.
Yao: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yao?
We estimate approximately 106 people named Yao 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 3,233,531 Americans share this first name.
Is Yao a common name?
Yao is classified as "Very Rare" and is more popular than 65.4% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 108 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Yao most popular?
Yao reached peak popularity in 1984, when 10 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Yao is approximately 21 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Yao a male name?
Yao is predominantly male. 100.0% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Yao Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Yao Smith, Yao Johnson, Yao 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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