735 Baby Names That Start With Y (With Meanings and Popularity)
Baby names that start with Y are beautiful but uncommon, with only ten ranking in the US Top 1000. The most common Y name for girls is Yara, a multicultural names with origins in Arabic, Portuguese, and Persian, among others. For boys, the Arabic name Yusuf tops the list — this and spelling variation Yousef rank considerably higher in England than in the US.
Along with Yara, other girl names beginning with Y in the US Top 1000 include Yaretzi, Yareli, and Yamileth. In addition to Yusuf, other boy names starting with Y in the US Top 1000 include Yosef, Yahya, Yehuda, Yahir, Yousef, and Yael.
Y names are heating up for boys in the US, driven primarily by Yiddish and Hebrew names like Yehuda, Yisroel, Yitzchok, Yaakov, and Yeshua.
Unique names with the Y initial include prepster names Yardley, Yale, Yeats, and York. Among the international options that begin with the letter Y we recommend are the Russian Yasha, Japanese Yoko, Arabic Yasir, and Israeli Yonit and Yarden, the original name from which Jordan derived.
Here, our full selection of names that start with Y, ordered by their current popularity on Nameberry.
Related:
- Yves
Origin:
FrenchMeaning:
"yew wood"
- Yuna
Origin:
Japanese, Breton, Korean, Chinese, DutchMeaning:
"superiority, gentleness, or citrus fruit; lamb; willow, abundant, child, happy + to reach, to hold; jade + elegant, beautiful; June"
- Yara
Origin:
Arabic, Persian, Brazilian, HebrewMeaning:
"friend, helper; strength; water nymph; honeycomb"
- Yvaine
Origin:
Female variation of Yvain or ScottishMeaning:
"evening star"
- Yuri
Origin:
Russian variation of George
- Yvonne
Origin:
FrenchMeaning:
"yew wood"
- Yvette
Origin:
French, feminine of YvesMeaning:
"yew tree"
- Yannick
Origin:
BretonMeaning:
"God is gracious"
- Yolanda
Origin:
Spanish from GreekMeaning:
"violet flower"
- Yuli
- Yasmin
Origin:
PersianMeaning:
"jasmine flower"
- Yasha
Origin:
RussianMeaning:
"supplanter"
- Yunay
Origin:
Indian, "the son of Anjana"Meaning:
"the son of Anjana"
- Yuki
Origin:
JapaneseMeaning:
"snow; happiness"
- Yul
Origin:
Mongolian or LatinMeaning:
"beyond the horizon; youthful, downy-bearded"
- Yu
Origin:
ChineseMeaning:
"universe"
- Yareli
Origin:
Native American, Spanish variation of Yara, ArabicMeaning:
"water lady; small butterfly"
- Yahya
Origin:
Arabic, Turkish, and Persian form of YochananMeaning:
"God is Gracious"
- Yarden
Origin:
HebrewMeaning:
"to flow down, descend"
- Yanis
Origin:
Greek, French, from HebrewMeaning:
"gift of God"
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