383 Girl Names That Start With Y (With Meanings and Popularity)
Girl names that start with Y include a few familiar choices, such as Yvette and Yvonne, Yasmin and Yasmina, Yael and Yolanda. However, Y remains a very rare first initial for girl names today, with only Yara, Yaretzi, and Yareli currently ranking in the US Top 1000.
Along with Yara and Yael, other uncommon and unique Y-starting girl names we recommend include the mythical Yseult, the literary Yvaine, and the smart surname name Yardley.
Girls' names beginning with Y also include several international forms of names that are more commonly spelled with an I or J in English, such as the Spanish variants Ynez and Ysabel, or the popular Russian name Yuliya, which ranks in the Top 50 girl names in Russia.
Here, our full selection of girl names that start with Y, ordered by their current popularity on Nameberry.
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- Yuna
Origin:
Japanese, Breton, Korean, Chinese, DutchMeaning:
"superiority, gentleness, citrus fruit; lamb; willow, abundant, child, happy + to reach, to hold; jade + elegant, beautiful; June"
- Yvaine
Origin:
Female variation of Yvain or ScottishMeaning:
"evening star"
- Yara
Origin:
Arabic, Persian, Brazilian, HebrewMeaning:
"friend, helper; strength; water nymph; honeycomb"
- Yvonne
Origin:
FrenchMeaning:
"yew wood"
- Yolanda
Origin:
Spanish from GreekMeaning:
"violet flower"
- Yvette
Origin:
French, feminine of YvesMeaning:
"yew tree"
- Ysella
Origin:
CornishMeaning:
"modest"
- Yaretzi
Origin:
Nahuatl, AztecMeaning:
"you will always be loved"
- Yuri
Origin:
JapaneseMeaning:
"lily"
- Yari
Origin:
Spanish, HebrewMeaning:
"gold"
- Yulissa
- Yesenia
Origin:
Spanish, ArabicMeaning:
"palm tree; flower"
- Yasmin
Origin:
PersianMeaning:
"jasmine flower"
- Yasmine
Origin:
Arabic variation of JasmineMeaning:
"jasmine flower"
- Yelena
Origin:
Russian variation of HelenMeaning:
"bright, shining one"
- Yelitza
Origin:
Spanish, South American
- Yael
Origin:
HebrewMeaning:
"ibex"
- Yaeli
- Yohana
Origin:
Hebrew; AmharicMeaning:
"God is gracious"
- Yareli
Origin:
Native American, Spanish variation of Yara, ArabicMeaning:
"water lady; small butterfly"